adjective

1. moving or directed backward; retiring or retreating
2. inverse or reverse: said of order
3. going back or tending to go back to an earlier, esp. worse, condition; retrogressive
4. Obsolete opposed; contrary
5. 1. Astron. moving in an orbit opposite to the usual orbital direction of similar celestial bodies, as opposite to the direction of the earth in its journey around the sun
   2. Astrol. designating motion, real or apparent, on the celestial sphere in a direction from east to west
6. Music designating motion backward in a melody, specif. so as to begin with the last note and end with the first

Etymology: ME < L retrogradus < retrogradi, to go backward: see retro- & grade

intransitive verb retrograded -·grad′ed, retrograding -·grad′·ing

1. to go, or seem to go, backward
2. to become worse; decline; deteriorate; degenerate
3. Astron. to have a retrograde motion

Etymology: L retrogradi