Definition of retrodict
: to utilize present information or ideas to infer or explain (a past event or state of affairs)
What's Trending Now
More Trending Words
retrodict was our Word of the Day on 01/26/2018. Hear the podcast!
Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
Did You Know?
We predict that you will guess the correct origins of retrodict, and chances are we will not contradict you. English speakers had started using predict by at least the early 17th century; it's a word formed by combining prae- (meaning "before") and dicere (meaning "to say"). Since the rough translation of predict is "to say before," it's no surprise that when people in the 1950s wanted a word for predicting the past, they created it by combining the prefix for "backward" (retro-) with the -dict of predict. Other dicere descendants in English include contradict, benediction, dictate, diction, and dictionary.
Origin and Etymology of retrodict
retro- + predict
Learn More about retrodict
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up retrodict? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
