the adoption by an adult or adolescent of behaviour more appropriate to a child, esp as a defence mechanism to avoid anxiety
2. statistics
a.
the analysis or measure of the association between one variable (the dependent variable) and one or more other variables (the independent variables), usually formulated in an equation in which the independent variables have parametric coefficients, which may enable future values of the dependent variable to be predicted
b.
(as modifier)
regression curve
3. astronomy
the slow movement around the ecliptic of the two points at which the moon's orbit intersects the ecliptic. One complete revolution occurs about every 19 years
4. geology
the retreat of the sea from the land
5.
the act of regressing
regression in American English
(rɪˈgrɛʃən)
noun
1.
a regressing, or going back; return; movement backward
2.
retrogression
3. Astronomy
the slow westward shifting of the nodes of an orbit, caused by a perturbation: the complete cycle of the regression of the nodes of the moon's orbit around the earth takes about 18.6years
4. Biology
reversion to an earlier or simpler form, or to a general or common type
5. Medicine
a gradual subsiding of a disease or its symptoms
6. Psychoanalysis
reversion to earlier or more infantile behavior patterns
7. Statistics
an estimation technique in which functions or coefficients within functions are designed to estimate values of a dependent variable
Word origin
L regressio
Examples of 'regression' in a sentence
regression
`Isn't that going to trigger a regression to the plutocratic hegemony of the last century?
Alex George LOVE YOU MADLY (2002)
All this legalese was causing serious linguistic regression.
Val McDermid DEAD BEAT (2002)
She bases this conviction not only on past-life regression therapy, but also on the circumstances of her current life.