/re'treuh gres", re"treuh gres'/ , v.i.
1. to go backward into an earlier and usually worse condition: to retrogress to infantilism.
2. to move backward.
[ 1810-20; retrogressus ptp. of retrogradi to go back or backward, equiv. to retro- RETRO- + gred-, comb. form of gradi to step, go (see GRADE) + -tus ptp. suffix, with dt > ss ]
Syn. 1. decline, degenerate, retrograde, withdraw, retreat, revert.