regressionn.
/rᵻˈɡrɛʃn/, /ˌriːˈɡrɛʃn/, U.S. /rəˈɡrɛʃ(ə)n/, /riˈɡrɛʃ(ə)n/ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > repetition > [noun]
replication?c1400
repetition?a1425
repeatingc1443
renovelling1483
regressiona1500
iteration1530
repeat1556
ingemination1576
iteratinga1593
iterancea1616
redoublinga1665
restatement1790
troll1790
repeatal1822
catching up1847
rewording1849
re-enunciation1855
iterancy1889
a1500 (?c1425) Speculum Sacerdotale (1936) 182 (MED) The þridde priuelege is in regression and turnynge aȝeyn of antymes, as Seynt Poule haþ.
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique 109 b That is called regression, when we repeate a worde eftsones, that hath been spoken, and rehersed before.
1597 Bp. J. King Lect. Ionas iii. 37 His reason of flying to Tharsis, is again specified, with a regression in the end of the verse, that he might go from the presence of the Lord.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > narration > [noun] > return to a subject
regression?1520
regress1578
?1520 A. Barclay tr. Sallust Cron. Warre agaynst Iugurth xii. f. 19v Nowe wyll I make regression and prosecute my first purposed mater insuyng myne authour Salust.
1620 T. Granger Syntagma Logicum 317 To digression is added also regression, which is a returning back againe to our former speech interrupted by digression.
3.
a. The action, fact, or process of returning to a former state or condition; reversion to or towards an earlier type or form, esp. one that is less developed; Biology = retrogression n. 3b. Also: an instance of this. Cf. regress n. 4a, regress v. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > relapse > [noun]
again-falling1340
regressa1522
retrogration1567
regression1583
retrogradationa1609
reincidency1622
recess1641
retrogation1646
setback1669
retrogress1701
retrogression1757
backwarding1765
fallback1830
throwback1856
regressivity1890
the world > time > change > change to something else, transformation > change of direction, reversion > [noun]
gain-turning1340
reversion1547
regression1583
unmaking1587
retrogradation1638
repedation1646
metathesis1653
recommencement1655
antecedency1656
remutation1692
reconversion1759
relapsing1772
recurrence1789
revertal1824
switcheroo1933
the world > action or operation > amending > restoration > [noun] > return to a previous better state
regressa1522
regression1583
retreat1600
recovery1932
snap-back1949
1583 P. Barrough Methode of Phisicke v. iv. 211 (margin) Signes of the regression and lurking of a tumour.
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. x. 38 That essence, which substantially supporteth them, and restraines them from regression into nothing.
1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. (ed. 2) at Relapse Regression from a state of recovery to sickness.
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. IV. 366 Dr. Home..completed a radical cure in fourteen of them, no relapse occurring notwithstanding the frequency of such regressions.
1884 T. T. Munger Freedom of Faith (ed. 9) x. 248 To doubt immortality is to reverse instinct... It is a lapse, a regression, it crowds man back into his animal nature, and makes him a thing to eat and drink and perish.
1890 Catholic World July 507 The able and learned scholars and divines..who desire that progress shall be on the lines of orthodox development, and not regression into Pelagian, Unitarian, and Rationalistic heterodoxy.
1914 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 204 121 The evolution of the series composed of Crateraster quinqueloba... There is a stage of elaboration, both of height and ornament, followed by regression.
1945 F. Boas Race & Democratic Soc. x. 75 This..does not prove that if the social conditions were equalized there might not be a regression of the whole population towards much less distinctive standards.
1988 J. Cartwright Interior xiv. 157 Evolution could easily go the wrong way, regression to the primal mud.
2005 A. Bernstein in R. Mayhew Ess. Ayn Rand's ‘Anthem’ xiv. 302 The society..is saved from the primitivist regression depicted in Anthem only by the hero's resuscitation of the principles of individual rights and political-economic freedom.
b. Medicine. Reversal or resolution of a physiological or pathological process; involution, atrophy, or degeneration of an organ or tissue; shrinkage or disappearance of a tumour. Cf. regressive adj. 2b.
ΚΠ
1868 G. Whitley tr. E. Lancereaux Treat. Syphilis I. 266 The evolution of gummy tumours of the muscles is accomplished in two periods, one of formation.., the other of regression or metamorphosis.
1888 Lancet 28 Jan. 180/2 Spontaneous regression in the substance of tumours is very common.
1926 Surg., Gynecol. & Obstetr. 43 308/2 There is regression of bone (osteolysis).
1950 Sci. News 15 136 The regression of tumours caused by Compound E did not generally last indefinitely. The tumours usually recurred.
1976 Indian Jrnl. Exper. Biol. 14 314 Post-Caesarean insertion of an IUD did not interfere with the normal regression of the uterus.
1997 GQ Sept. 274/4 Dr GB Challis of the University of Calgary, who has analysed all the reported cases of spontaneous regression, found it may occur in virtually every type of cancer.
2002 Daily Tel. 3 May 24/8 Medical treatment with oral steroids (prednisolone) followed by antibiotics often causes regression of [nasal] polyps.
c. Originally Psychiatry. Reversion to an earlier or less developed psychological state, either as a defensive response to circumstances, or as a result of hypnosis, psychoanalysis, or psychotherapy; mental, psychological, or behavioural return to an earlier stage of life (or to a supposed earlier life or experience); the state of having regressed in this way. Also as a count noun.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > other mental illnesses
neurosis1783
mutism1824
Americanitis1882
lata1884
miryachit1884
negativism1892
obsession1892
ressentiment1896
resentment1899
pseudologia1903
echopraxia1904
complex1907
pseudo-homosexuality1908
regression1910
kleptolagnia1917
sadomasochism1919
poriomania1921
superiority complex1921
martyr complex1926
rejection1931
nemesism1938
acting out1945
catathymia1949
elective mutism1950
psychosyndrome1965
panic attack1966
Munchausen syndrome by proxy1977
Polle syndrome1977
panic disorder1978
chronic factitious disorder1980
bigorexia1985
fabricated or induced illness1994
selective mutism1999
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > libido > sublimation of libido > [noun] > retreat to earlier period
regression1910
1910 tr. S. Freud in Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 21 214 The flight from the unsatisfying reality into what we call..disease..takes place over the path of regression [Ger. auf dem Wege der Rückbildung (Regression)], the return to earlier phases of the sexual life, when satisfaction was not lacking.
1913 C. G. Jung On Psychoanal. in XVIIth Internat. Congr. Med. §xii. 68 [Freud] called this phenomenon of reactivation or secondary exaggeration of infantile reminiscences ‘Regression’.
1920 Challenge 21 May 44/3 The libido..in its regression to the collective unconscious, gives rise to the similation of archaic psychical adaptations.
1948 Jrnl. Nerv. & Mental Dis. 107 443 In regression to infantile levels the subject assumed the sleeping posture of an infant.
1971 Jrnl. Gen. Psychol. 84 208 In psychology the term ‘regression’ refers to a primitivization of behavior.
1978 H. Gris & W. Dick New Soviet Psychic Discoveries ix. 105 Let me amplify on regressions. Whatever people think, their previous lives are not individual experiences.
1994 Esquire Mar. 48/3 Most of Mack's data come from lengthy hypnotic regressions during which abductees recall their experiences in vivid, sometimes terrifying, detail.
1995 Nursing Times 22 Mar. 49/2 There seemed to be evidence of an arrest of psychosexual development with regression to more childlike roles.
4. † a. The action or an act of going or coming back. Cf. regress n. 3a, regress v. 1b. Obsolete.rare after 17th cent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > backward movement > [noun] > return towards point of departure
returna1393
returning?c1400
recoursec1405
regress1478
reverture1495
retraira1500
regression1598
reflexa1613
recursion1616
revolture1633
retroition1651
hark back1798
recover1818
1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Frenche Chirurg. vi. ii. f. 28v/1 In such accidentes, wherin is onlye reqvired a regressione of bloode [Du. uetreckinge; Fr. estants suffisamment euacuez par la sortie du sang, ains de retraction & deriuation].
1620 T. Venner Via Recta viii. 179 Through the regression of the spirits and heat into the interiour parts.
a1682 Sir T. Browne Christian Morals (1716) i. 35 Run not into Extremities from whence there is no regression.
1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic vii. 225 My going upstairs is my progress towards my object, and my coming down is a regression.
b. Astronomy. = retrogradation n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > planet > planetary movement > [noun] > retrograde motion
retrogradation?c1450
retrogration1567
regradation1607
retrograde1613
retrogression1619
retrocession1639
regression1640
regress1642
repedation1646
retrogation1646
antecedence1649
the world > the universe > planet > primary planet > moon > lunar orbit > [noun] > node > backward movement of
regression1640
retrogradation1657
regress1715
1640 Bp. J. Wilkins Disc. New Planet ii. x. 229 There is not any more probable Argument to prove the annuall motion of the Earth, than it's agreeablenesse to the station, direction, and regression of the Planets.
1727 R. Greene Princ. Philos. Expansive & Contractive Forces ii. v. 252 There would be no Regression of the Nodes in the same Plane.
1823 R. Woodhouse Elem. Treat. Astron. (ed. 2) II. 660 The annual regression of the Moon's node will be found to be 19°.19′.43″.
1866 H. Godfray Treat. Astron. xxii. 263 After retrograding..it [sc. a planet] again stops, and then recommences its onward motion. The time of regression is however much less than that of progression.
1941 Sci. Monthly July 71/1 The moon's nodes make a complete regression in a little over 19 years.
2007 P. Weissman in L. McFadden et al. Encycl. Solar Syst. (ed. 2) i. 4/2 When two bodies have identical perihelion procession rates or nodal regression rates, they are said to be in a secular resonance.
c. Mathematics. The bending or curving of a line or surface in a direction back towards its origin. Cf. flexure n. 6.edge of regression: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > curve > [noun] > returning
retrogression1704
recurring curve1715
regression1728
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Point If the Curve turn back again towards the Point whence it first set out, the Point of the Flexure is particularly call'd the Point of Regression, or Retrogradation.
1816 W. Dealtry Princ. Fluxions (ed. 2) xiii. 112 There is another species of regression; viz. when the curve in returning backwards, continues to be of the same kind with respect to concave or convex.
2001 H. Pottmann & J. Wallner Computational Line Geom. vi. 364 The coefficients κ and τ are the curvature and torsion of the curve of regression.
d. Geology. A retreat or withdrawal of the sea from the land in the geological past. Opposed to transgression n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > sea or ocean > region of sea or ocean > [noun] > sea level > changes in sea level
reliction1603
retrogression1815
regression1902
glacio-eustatism1935
glacio-eustasy1962
1902 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 41 330 In Post-Eocene times, this strait separating India and Asia disappeared, and we have, in northern India generally, at about this time.., a regression of the ocean.
1937 Bull. Amer. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists 21 1436 Rhythmic transgressions and regressions of the sea continued throughout the period of Jackson sedimentation, evidenced by the interwedging of marine and non-marine sediments.
1975 Sci. Amer. Feb. 90/3 The stratification of sedimentary deposits suggested successive marine transgressions onto the continents and regressions from them.
2006 D. H. Erwin Extinction v. 106 The case for a global marine regression seems far more certain for the end-Guadalupian than for the end-Changhsingian.
5. Philosophy. = regress n. 6.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical reasoning > [noun] > inductive reasoning > regression
regress1620
regression1637
1637 R. Humfrey in tr. St. Ambrose Christian Offices Pref. sig. D 2v The Heathen Philosopher..holds from privation to habite regression to bee impossible.
1797 tr. J. S. Beck Princ. Crit. Philos. iii. 366 However far the empirical regression may reach, we always remain equally distant.
1830 Monthly Repos. Dec. 809 I do not find in the phænomena my idea verified, since they offer to me only conditional (second) causes, and an infinite regression of them, but not an absolute, a first cause.
1866 K. Fischer Comm. Kant's Crit. Pure Reason vi. 155 (heading) The syllogism obtained by Regression.
1886 A. Weir Hist. Basis Mod. Europe (1889) xii. 472 Truths of science are made contingent on a first cause, or are swallowed up in the mysteries of infinite regression.
1914 Jrnl. Philos., Psychol. & Sci. Methods 11 9 Any attempt to give an account of perception, therefore, involves us in an infinite regression.
1982 Philos. Sci. 49 282 The proposal that causal claims are naturally necessary leads to a vicious infinite regression.
2008 H. Coward Perfectibility Human Nature i. v. 85 Included in human nature are certain innate principles..such as the invalidity of circular argument, infinite causal regression, and contradiction in argument.
6. Genetics. The tendency for a value of an inherited characteristic to move closer to the mean value for the general population over successive generations, so that more extreme values tend to disappear; (Statistics) the tendency for the values of any distributed variable to move towards the mean over repeated independent trials. Frequently in regression to or toward the mean.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > evolution > [noun] > regression (to the mean)
regression to the mean1885
1885 F. Galton in Nature 24 Sept. 507/1 The experiments showed further that the mean filial regression towards mediocrity was directly proportional to the parental deviation from it.
1912 J. A. Thomson Heredity (ed. 2) ix. 321 The amount of the regression affords a useful measure of the intensity of the inheritance.
1930 B. S. Burks et al. Promise of Youth iii. 42 We..estimated the probable average regression toward the mean for children whose original IQ's averaged 150.
1965 Lancet 5 Mar. 518/1 This may due in part to regression to the mean value that would be found, in comparing later with initial values from a purely random set.
2007 N. Angier Canon ii. 65 While population averages in height or intelligence may advance over time, regression to the mean serves as a counterweight, a stabilizing trend that helps keep cockiness in check.
7. Statistics. The relationship between the estimated value of a dependent variable and the corresponding values of one or more independent variables. Also: the action or process of determining such a relationship from observed data; an instance of this; cf. method of least squares at square n. 8b.Earliest in regression coefficient n. at Compounds 2 coefficient of regression: = regression coefficient n. at Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [noun] > variable > relationship between sets of variables
correlation1888
regression1895
intercorrelation1901
covariation1925
multicollinearity1934
the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [noun] > variable > relationship between sets of variables > relating to regression
regression coefficient1895
regression equation1897
coefficient of regression1931
logit analysis1977
1895 K. Pearson in Proc. Royal Soc. 1895–6 59 70 A stationary focus of regression..involves either a mortality due to periodic selection or a magnitude of the regression coefficient vastly greater.
1917 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 6th Ser. 34 205 When the regression of the first variable on the remaining n − 1 variables is linear, the multiple correlation coefficient measures the dependence of the first variable on the others.
1931 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 94 596 Ratios in second years are positively correlated with ratios in first years... From such correlated variables a coefficient of regression could be determined.
1937 Human Biol. 9 27 The positive slope of the regression of chest-width upon chronological age is greater in the case of premenarcheal girls.
1972 T. H. Wonnacott & R. J. Wonnacott Introd. Statistics for Business & Econ. xiii. 287 Multiple regression is the extension of simple regression, to take account of the effect of more than one independent X variable on the dependent variable Y.
2005 J. Spicer Making Sense of Multivariate Anal. iv. 116 Analytic power may be extended by conducting a series of regressions, each containing different subsets of the independent variables.
8. Computing. A change to a program or system which inadvertently creates or reintroduces bugs, breaks existing features, or degrades performance. Chiefly in regression testing.
ΚΠ
1983 Computerworld 22 Aug. 10/4 Documenting the expected results of the tests is critical not only for evaluating results, but for repeatability and regression testing purposes.
1992 P. Norvig Paradigms of Artific. Intelligence Programming iii. 90 Waters presents an interesting tool for maintaining a suite of regression tests.
2001 Jrnl. Syst. & Software 57 79/1 Regression testing aims to provide confidence that the modifications are correct and have not adversely affected other parts of the program.
2007 A. Zeller Why Programs Fail xiii. 344 If a regression occurs, a common debugging strategy is to focus on the changes one made.
Compounds
C1. (Chiefly in sense 7.)
regression analysis n.
ΚΠ
1928 Jrnl. Amer. Statist. Assoc. 23 114 By means of the familiar regression analysis, a prediction formula was developed.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 19 June 18/3 Label the probability of murder as ‘P(M)’ and subject it to the technique of regression analysis.
2008 New Scientist (Nexis) 25 Oct. 12 Michael Lewis-Beck of the University of Iowa used the statistical technique known as regression analysis to derive back-predictions for the last 14 elections.
regression formula n.
ΚΠ
1897 K. Pearson in Philos. Trans. 1896 (Royal Soc.) A. 187 295 Substituting these values in the regression formula, we find [etc.].
2001 Oxoniensia 65 320 Applying the regression formula of Scheuer et al. gives an estimated age of 38.3 +/−2.08 weeks, or 36–40 weeks.
regression function n.
ΚΠ
1921 K. Pearson in Biometrika 13 300 As far as I am aware these orthogonal regression functions have not hitherto been dealt with.
2005 P. A. Keller Six Sigma Demystified iii. 322 Approximately 93% of the variation in the response is explained by the regression function.
regression model n.
ΚΠ
1950 Ann. Math. Statistics 21 308 The ratio..is used as a measure of the predicting efficiency of Y1..when the Xi are fixed for the usual regression model.
2002 L. Gold Good Hosp. Guide 478 Each of these measures was used in their regression model as independent estimates of the severity of illness treated.
regression theory n.
ΚΠ
1932 Jrnl. Educ. Psychol. 23 581 (heading) Proof of agreement with the regression theory.
1995 Esquire Sept. 80/1 The clearest and best guide to regression theory in securities investing is David Dreman's The New Contrarian Investment Strategy.
2005 K. L. Kramer Maya Children 208 Ordinary least squares regression theory assumes that the mean of the response variable is a linear function of the predictor variables.
C2.
regression coefficient n. Statistics a coefficient in the regression equation, representing how a dependent variable changes when one of the independent variables changes; esp. the coefficient in a simple regression equation having only one independent variable.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [noun] > variable > relationship between sets of variables > relating to regression
regression coefficient1895
regression equation1897
coefficient of regression1931
logit analysis1977
1895 K. Pearson in Proc. Royal Soc. 1895–6 59 69 The symbols in terms of which they are expressed being the standard-deviations, correlation-coefficients, and regression-coefficients.
1964 R. von Mises Math. Theory Probability & Statistics xi. 576 The correlation coefficient is the geometrical mean of the two regression coefficients.
2005 D. Howitt & D. Cramer Introd. Statistics Psychol. (ed. 3) xxviii. 319 To predict a particular criterion score, we multiply the particular score of the predictor by the regression coefficient and add it to the intercept constant.
regression curve n. Statistics = regression line n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [noun] > graph > of dependent against independent variables
regression curve1899
regression line1899
1899 K. Pearson in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 192 221 We have only to consider a small portion of the regression curve.
1999 M. R. Spiegel & L. J. Stephens Schaum's Outl. Theory & Probl. Statistics (ed. 3) xiii. 285 If we wanted to estimate the value of X from a given value of Y, we would use a regression curve of X on Y.
regression equation n. Statistics an equation relating the expected value of a dependent variable to the value of one or more independent variables.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [noun] > variable > relationship between sets of variables > relating to regression
regression coefficient1895
regression equation1897
coefficient of regression1931
logit analysis1977
1897 G. U. Yule in Proc. Royal Soc. 1896–7 60 480 The characteristic or regression equations which we have to find are of the form [etc.].
1948 Biometrics 4 160 Fitting a regression equation to express the dependence of final denervated muscle weight on both initial and final body total weights.
2006 B. Frey Statistics Hacks ii. 59 To make the regression equation as accurate as possible, statistical procedures remove the shared information from each predictor in the equation.
regression hypnosis n. the action or process of causing a person to regress (regress v. 7) under hypnosis; = hypnotic regression n. at hypnotic adj. and n. Additions.
ΚΠ
1956 Logansport (Indiana) Pharos-Tribune 21 Feb. 7/1 Bridey is the subject of a best-selling book on ‘age regression’ hypnosis.]
1978 I. Currie You cannot Die iii. 109 Evidence that human beings carry deeply-buried memories of many former lives, memories which can be explored in detail by regression hypnosis.
1997 Daily Mail (Nexis) 1 Sept. 64 Has anyone born blind received ‘regression’ hypnosis? If so, were they able to see?
2003 UFO Mag. Sept. 6/1 The scientific community is divided over..the validity of regression hypnosis in recovering lost memories.
regression line n. Statistics a graph of the expected value of a dependent variable plotted against the value of an independent variable; the line that best expresses an inexact relationship between two variables, spec. a line of best fit.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [noun] > graph > of dependent against independent variables
regression curve1899
regression line1899
1899 K. Pearson in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 192 223 The dwarfs and giants appeared to deviate from the regression line in a remarkably symmetrical manner.
1950 Jrnl. Hygiene 48 24 Graphical estimation, drawing in the apparent best lines by eye, has been used in view of the difficulty and complexity of attempting to calculate regression lines with points of varying accuracy.
2006 L. R. Jaisingh Statistics for Utterly Confused (ed. 2) 109 Least-squares analysis allows us to determine values for a and b such that the equation of the regression line best represents the relationship between the two variables.
regression testing n. see sense 8.
regression therapy n. Psychology any of various forms of therapy (chiefly involving hypnosis) in which regression (sense 3c) is induced, typically in order to discover possible causes of a disorder, habit, etc., or to recover repressed memories.
ΚΠ
1960 in G. J. Sarwer-Foner Dynamics of Psychiatric Drug Therapy ii. 164 What percentage of the patients receiving regression therapy will regress?
1991 Independent 30 Nov. 2/8 [He]..said regression therapy was used in Britain largely by unqualified practitioners... Patients undergoing therapy are encouraged to seek out early experiences, but only voluntarily.
2008 Observer 26 Oct. 45 He later, after regression therapy, claimed he was sexually abused as a two-year-old by his biological father.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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