English edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Latin retrōspectum, from retrōspicio (to look back at), equivalent to retro- +‎ -spect. Compare review.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈɹɛtɹəˌspɛkt/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: ret‧ro‧spect

Noun edit

retrospect (plural retrospects)

  1. Consideration of past times.
    Antonym: prospect
    • 1853, Charlotte Bronte, Villette:
      My mind, calmer and stronger now than last night, made for itself some imperious rules, prohibiting under deadly penalties all weak retrospect of happiness past; commanding a patient journeying through the wilderness of the present...
    • 1976, Terry Kay, The Year the Lights Came On, University of Georgia Press, published 1989, →ISBN, page 298:
      Whether, like Colin, in retrospect Willie Lee and Baptist would feel that what has vanished was greater than what was achieved, is not something we can predict.

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

Verb edit

retrospect (third-person singular simple present retrospects, present participle retrospecting, simple past and past participle retrospected)

  1. To look or refer back to; to reflect on.

See also edit

Anagrams edit