1. An action that involves giving something back to a person; such as, land or a territory: The local tribal groups petitioned the government for an act of retrocede, to return their traditional property to the governance of the Native councils.
2. A move back or away from a limit, a point, or a mark: The community was hoping that there would be a retrocede of the floodwaters that have caused so much damage.
3. Etymology: from Latin retrocedere, "to go back" from retro-, "back" + cedere, "to go".