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regredior

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word regredior

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (gradior)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin gradior
Latin congredior
Latin congressus
English congress
English congressman
Latin congressio
Latin progredior
Latin progressus
English progress
Latin regredior
Latin gressus
Latin ingredior
Latin ingressus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [rɛˈɡrɛ.di.ɔr][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [reˈɡrɛː.di.or][1]

Forms

regredior (present infinitive regredī, perfect active regressus sum); third (-iō variant) conjugation, deponent[1] Nonius takes Ennius' regredere as an active infinitive, but it may be a second person singular.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin re- + gradior (“to step, walk”).[2][1][3] De Vaan derives ⟨gradior⟩ from Proto-Italic *grad-(e)i- and Proto-Indo-European *g(h)rd(h)-(e)i-, cognate with Old Irish ingreinn (“chases”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest example is from Plautus: “go back there from the door”.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is to go or come back, and in war to withdraw: Cicero says someone preferred to be surrounded by the waves of war rather than either retreat or advance.[2] Plautus already uses it of going back in memory: “I go back in memory to having heard my father called Hegio”.[2] Cicero uses it of extending an edict into the past and of going back in a chain of causes without end, and of retreating from a claim: people should rather draw back than press forward.[2] In the jurists it is to have recourse to a previous owner, as a buyer against the seller, and to revert to former ownership.[2]

Church Latin has it for go back, return.[6] English regress (late 14th century) is from its participle regressus.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of going back, also in memory.[2][8]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius.[2][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of retreating and of going back in time.[2][8]
  • before 223 AD – Ulpian of legal recourse.[2][8]
  • late 14th century – English regress.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To go or come back, return.[2][5][1][6]
  2. (military) To withdraw, retreat.[2][1]
  3. To go back to a former state or in time; to draw back from a claim.[2]
  4. (law) To have recourse to a previous party; to revert.[2][1]

Word family

  • regressiō
  • regressus

Usage notes

Lewis and Short give revertor and redeō as near-synonyms.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Regredior.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/regredior. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·