Retarden

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To make something happen more slowly or later than expected by holding back its progress or movement
2. To hold back the speed or advance of a process, action, or event so that it takes longer to occur
3. To slow down or postpone the development or movement of something, especially an activity or a change

Etymology: "Retarden" is the German verb meaning "to retard" or "to slow down," and it reached English through the same Latin source as the English verb "retard." The Latin "retardare" combines "re-," meaning "back" or "again," with "tardare," "to make slow," which in turn comes from "tardus," "slow." The idea at the root is literally of pushing something back so that it moves more slowly. In German, "retardieren" and its relatives are used in technical and formal contexts, and the verb carries the same sense as in English: to delay, hinder, or hold back the progress of something. Because it is a verb built from Latin parts and borrowed into German, its meaning stays close to the literal image of slowing a motion.