retrogradation
Americannoun
-
backward movement.
-
decline or deterioration.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of retrogradation
1545–55; < Late Latin retrōgradātiōn- (stem of retrōgradātiō ), probably equivalent to Latin retrōgrad ( us ) retrograde + -ātiō -ation, as translation of Greek anapodismós
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The retrogradation of wheat starch in bread is responsible for staling.
From New York Times ● Aug. 6, 2016
As it cools down, the starch goes through a process called retrogradation and the molecules begin to to rearrange and realign themselves into a crystalline structure again.
From Forbes ● Nov. 23, 2011
The arc of retrogradation is the angular distance thus apparently traversed.
From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Sir Edward Belcher
In truth, however, the retrogradation was much slighter than appeared on the surface.
From American Political Ideas Viewed from the Standpoint of Universal History by John Fiske
A glance at each successive pair of dates will quickly disclose the periodical retrogradation of the eclipse epochs.
From The Story of Eclipses by George F. (George Frederick) Chambers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
