retro-, retr-

(Latin: back, backward, backwards; behind)

retrography
Mirror-writing.
retrogress, (verb) retrogresses; retrogressed; retrogressing
1. To go backward into an earlier and usually worse condition; to recede: Jerome was retrogressing from being financially independent to having to live on the streets of his city because he lost all of his money gambling in the local casino by playing card games (poker), roulette, and slot machines.
2. To return or revert to an earlier, inferior, or less complex condition; to degenerate or to deteriorate: When Jerry refused to spend any time doing his homework and so not passing his exams, he was retrogressed from going on to the next grade level and having to take the same courses again.
To go or to move backward.
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To revert to an earlier condition.
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retrogression (ret" roh GRESH uhn, ret" ruh GRESH uhn) (s) (noun), retrogressions (pl)
1. The act or process of deteriorating or declining: The sociologists noted the appearance of retrogression in the compassionate behavior of the population after the takeover of the government by right wing patriots.
2. A return to a former and to a less complex level of development or organization: The marine biologists were astonished to note the retrogression in many of the smaller life forms in their study of tidal pool organisms over a period of many years.
3. Etymology: from Latin retrogressus, past participle of retrogradi, "to move backward"; from retro-, "backward" + gradi, "to go, to step".
retrogressive
1. Returning to a condition or situation which is worse than the present one, instead of improving or making progress.
2. Tending to retrograde; that is, going or moving backward; declining from a better to a worse condition or situation.
retrogressively
retroinguinal space, spatium retroinguinale
A triangular space between the peritoneum and the transversalis fascia (flat layers of fibrous tissue that separate different layers of tissue of the abdominal cavity), at the lower angle of which is the inguinal ligament; it contains the lower portion of the external iliac artery.
retrolental, retrolenticula
Posterior to the lens of the eye.
retrolingual
1. Situated behind or near the base of the tongue; such as, retrolingual salivary glands.
2. Relating to the back part of the tongue; posterior to the tongue.
retromammary
retromancy
Divination by things seen over one’s shoulder.
retromorphosis
1. A degenerative metamorphosis or a change in cells or tissues that is the reverse of the constructive or developmental change.

A return to an earlier or embryonic stage.

2. A change for the worse.
retronym
1. A combination of retro- + synonym; a term that distinguishes a subclass from members of a superclass, e.g., “snail mail” is a retronym coined by those for whom “mail” is likely to mean “e-mail”.
2. An adjective-noun pairing generated by a change in the meaning of the noun, usually because of advances in technology.
3. A term; such as, acoustic guitar, coined in modification of the original referent (guitar) that was used alone, to distinguish it from a later contrastive development, again in reference to electric guitar.
4. A noun that has been forced to take on an adjective to stay up-to-date.

For instance, "real cream" and "live performance" are retronyms for "cream" and "performance" which have been brought about with the advent of "nondairy creamers" and "prerecorded performances".

"Watch" became "pocket watch" as a result of the introduction of the "wrist watch"; "pen" became "fountain pen", after the introduction of the "ball-point pen".

retroreflectivity
A principle in painting road stripes which includes glass beads that are embedded in the epoxy and paint of the stripes so when the lights of vehicles shine on the beads, they reflect back to the drivers.
retrorocket
retrorse