Main Entry: ¹ret·ro·spec·tive

Pronunciation: \-ˈspek-tiv\

Function: adjective

Date: 1664

1 a (1) : of, relating to, or given to retrospection (2) : based on memory <a retrospective report> b : being a retrospective <a retrospective exhibition>
2 : affecting things past : retroactive <retrospective laws>
3 : relating to or being a study (as of a disease) that starts with the present condition of a population of individuals and collects data about their past history to explain their present condition

— ret·ro·spec·tive·ly adverb