re·gress (rĭ-grĕs')

v., -gressed, -gress·ing, -gress·es.

v.intr.

1. To go back; move backward.
2. To return to a previous, usually worse or less developed state.
3. To have a tendency to approach or go back to a statistical mean.

v.tr. Psychology
To induce a state of regression in.

n. (rē'grĕs')

1. 1. The act of going or coming back; return.
   2. Passage back; reentry.
2. The act of reasoning backward from an effect to a cause.

[Latin regredī, regress- : re-, re- + gradī, to go.]

regressor re·gres'sor n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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