Retreat

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈtɹiːt/

Definitions

1. A movement backward or withdrawal from a difficult situation, or a quiet place for rest and reflection
2. A strategic pulling back from an area or situation ; a peaceful location chosen for rest or contemplation
3. An act of moving away from danger or opposition ; a secluded spot reserved for relaxation and privacy

Etymology: The English word "retreat" arrived from Old French "retrait" or "retret", which came from Latin "retractus", the past participle of "retraho", meaning "to draw back." That Latin verb is built from "re-", "back", and "trahere", "to draw," so the core idea is literally a pulling backward. The same Latin participle also gave English "retract" and "ritratto", the Italian word for a portrait, making these words doublets that share one ancestor but reached English and Italian along different paths. Its meaning split over time. The military sense of withdrawing from an enemy and the sense of a secluded, withdrawn place both grow from that image of drawing back, one physical and one social. A retreat can be a hideaway you go to, or a forced pullback from a fight, and the word covers both because both involve moving away from something.

Synonyms: withdrawal, recession, retreating, pullback, fallback

Antonyms: advance, progress, approach, attack, onslaught