Meaning

verb move backward in an orbit, of celestial bodies

verb move in a direction contrary to the usual one

verb move back

originThe adjective is derived from Middle English retrograd, retrograde (“of a planet: appearing to move in a direction opposite to the order of the zodiac signs, retrograde; unfortunate”), from Middle French retrograde and Old French retrograde (“of a celestial object: appearing to move backwards; moving backwards; reverse; palindromic; opposed to change”) (modern French rétrograde), and from their…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0