Retrograded

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Shifted or moved backward in position or sequence ; returned to a previous or less developed condition
2. Moved in reverse direction or order ; experienced a decline to an earlier stage or state
3. Went backward spatially or temporally ; underwent regression to a prior or simpler form

Etymology: Before it described planets or people, "retrograde" was a term of astronomy: Latin "retrogradus" meant "appearing to move backwards," and it was used of celestial bodies that seemed to drift against the order of the zodiac. The Latin verb "retrogradi" put the same idea into motion, meaning to step or go back. Its parts are "retro," back or backwards, and "gradus," a pace or step, so the word is literally a backward step. The verb reached English through Middle French "retrograder," which carried the astronomical sense along with broader uses such as going back, or dating something to an earlier period. English had the adjective "retrograde" by the Middle English period, when it was applied to planets appearing to move in reverse, and that astronomical sense remains its oldest and most literal meaning. The verb form "retrograded" therefore carries that original image: something that steps backwards, whether a planet in the sky, a moving object, or a condition that slides back toward an earlier state.

Synonyms: reversed, declined

Antonyms: advanced, progressed