régresser

Forms

régresser^[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from French régression, on the model of progresser.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The older noun regrès “return”, an adaptation of Latin regressus from the supine of regredior (“to go back”), is of the same family.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1878 in Claude Bernard's Principes de médecine expérimentale, in the medical sense “to return to a more primitive state or type”.^[2][4][6]

Semantic evolution

Introduced in medicine, the verb took the general sense “to develop in the opposite direction to progress, decrease” in Durkheim's De la division du travail social (1893).^[2][6] It later gained special uses in psychology and psychiatry, where a patient regresses to an earlier stage of development, and in geology (1964).^[6][5][4]

The Grand Robert and the GLLF, which did not know the 19th-century records, date the verb only from 1949.^[3][5]

Timeline

• 1878 – Claude Bernard uses it of a return to a more primitive type.^[2]
• 1893 – Durkheim uses it in the sense “to diminish in importance”.^[2][6]
• 1949 – Recorded by Larousse.^[5]
• 1955 – Lagache uses it in psychology.^[5]
• 1964 – Geological use.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To go back after a period of progress; to recede, decrease: Le chômage a régressé cette année.^[2][4][5]
2. (biology) To return to a less developed state; of an organ, to atrophy.^[2][5]
3. (psychology) To undergo a regression to an earlier stage of development.^[4][5]

Related words

• régression
• régressif
• progresser
• regrès

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert