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Your Roots2Words Affix of the Week is RETRO-:
RETRO- is a prefix meaning back or backwards.
(Prefixes appear at the beginning of words)
**EXAMPLES**
retroactive (adj) – applying or referring to the past
BREAKDOWN: RETRO- (backwards) + ACT- (do) + -IVE (inclined to)
retroflection (noun) – being bent backwards
BREAKDOWN: RETRO- (backwards) + FLECT- (bend) + -ION (state of)
retrograde (adj) – moving or bending backwards; tending towards an earlier or worse condition
BREAKDOWN: RETRO- (backwards) + GRAD- (move or step)
retrogress (verb) – to degenerate or go backward into an earlier condition
BREAKDOWN: RETRO- (back) + GRESS- (step)
— retrogression is a degeneration or reversal in development or condition
retronym (noun) – a new word or phrase created for an old object or concept whose original name has become used for something else. for example, the term “analog clock” was only coined after the introduction of digital clocks.
BREAKDOWN: RETRO- (backwards) + -ONYM (name)
retrospective (adj) – relating to looking backwards or contemplating the past; an exhibition of an artist’s body of work
BREAKDOWN: RETRO- (back) + SPEC- (look) + -IVE (state of)
— retrospect is contemplation of the past
retrovirus (noun) – a virus that replicates in a host cell through the process of reverse transcription
BREAKDOWN: RETRO- (backwards) + VIR(US)- (poison)
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Mike Bergin