- regress (n.)
- late 14c. (n.), "act of going back," from Latin regressus "a return," from regress-, past participle stem of regredi "to go back," from re- "back" (see re-) + gradi "to step, walk" (see grade (n.)).
- regress (v.)
- "to move backward," 1823, from regress (n.). The psychological sense of "to return to an earlier stage of life" is attested from 1926. Related: Regressed; regressing.