- regress
- late 14c. (n.), "act of going back," from L. regressus "a return," from regress-, pp. stem of regredi "to go back," from re- "back" + gradi "to step, walk" (see grade). The verb meaning "to move backward" is recorded from 1823; the psychological sense of "to return to an earlier stage of life" is attested from 1926. Regressive is recorded from 1630s; in ref. to taxation, it is attested from 1889.