Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Language: Latin
Origin: retrogradus, from gradi 'to go'

retrograde

 adjective
     
ret‧ro‧grade
1 formal involving a return to an earlier and worse situation [= backward]:
The closure of the factories is seen as a retrograde step.
2 technical moving backwards [= backward]
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
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