Retrospective

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Pronunciation: /ˌɹɛt.ɹə(ʊ)ˈspɛk.tɪv/

Definitions

1. Looking back on or dealing with past events or situations
2. Involving a review or analysis of past events or situations while considering their impact on current perspectives and future implications
3. Connected with considering events that have already happened ; applying to or affecting something from an earlier time

Etymology: "Retrospective" is built from "retrospect" plus the suffix "-ive", which turns a noun into an adjective meaning "having the quality of." "Retrospect" comes from Latin "retrospectus," the past participle of "retrospicere," meaning "to look back at." Its parts are "retro," meaning "backward," and "specere," meaning "to look," the same root found in "spectacle" and "inspect." The Latin sense was entirely physical: to look behind you. English "retrospect" kept that literal idea of a backward glance before it came to mean a looking back over time. "Retrospective" then took on the sense of examining the past, especially to judge it in light of what came after. Its use as a noun, for an exhibition or collection gathering an artist's career, grew from that same backward-looking idea.

Synonyms: reflective, hindsight