Definition

1. Noun:
   • Returning to a former state: The act of returning to an earlier, often less developed or less complex state.
   • A statistical relationship: In statistics, the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables, used for prediction.
   • A psychological defense mechanism: In psychiatry, a retreat to an earlier stage of psychological development in the face of stress or anxiety.
   • An arrested development: An abnormal condition where normal development has ceased prematurely.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Returning to a former state):
• Noun (Statistical relationship):
• Noun (Psychological defense):
• Noun (Arrested development):

Advanced Usage

• "Regression toward the mean": A statistical phenomenon where extreme measurements tend to be followed by more average ones.
• "Regression analysis": A statistical process for estimating the relationships among variables.

Variants and Related Words

• Regress (verb): To return to a former or less developed state.
• Regression line (noun): In statistics, the line that best fits the data points on a scatter plot.
• Regressive (adj): Tending to regress or characterized by regression.

Synonyms

• Retrogression: A return to an earlier and generally worse condition.
• Reversion: A return to a previous state, practice, or belief.
• Backsliding: Relapsing into bad habits or undesirable activities.

Related Phrases

• Regression testing (noun phrase): In software development, testing to ensure new changes have not broken existing functionality.

Noun

1. returning to a former state
2. the relation between selected values of x and observed values of y (from which the most probable value of y can be predicted for any value of x)
3. (psychiatry) a defense mechanism in which you flee from reality by assuming a more infantile state
4. an abnormal state in which development has stopped prematurely