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retard. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
retard, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
retard in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
retard you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From Middle English retarden, from Anglo-Norman or Latin, from Anglo-Norman retarder, from Latin retardāre (“to retard”), from re- + tardus (“slow”).
Pronunciation
- Noun (delay sense), Verb
- Noun (offensive sense)
Noun
retard (plural retards)
- Retardation; delay.
- Synonyms: delay, hold-up, retardation
- (music) A slowing down of the tempo; a ritardando.
- (offensive, dated) A person with mental retardation.
- Synonyms: retarded, (offensive) tard, (disused medical term) imbecile, (legal term) mental deficient, (disused medical term) moron
The retard in our class needs special help.
- (informal, offensive) A person or being who is extremely stupid or slow to learn.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:fool
2007, Doug Green, No Wife No Kids No Plan, →ISBN:“That's 'cause your dog is a retard,” the large woman retorted. The pit bull must have sensed the insult because it got up on all fours and started barking at the woman. Not one to back down from an interspecies fight, the prison lady stood up […]
Usage notes
Through the euphemism treadmill, the term retard (which originated as a then-neutral substitute for the terms that had previously designated those with disabilities, namely idiot, imbecile, and moron) has come to be offensive; see Wikipedia for more. In a 2003 survey by the BBC, retard was voted the most offensive word relating to disability, followed by spastic.
Derived terms
Translations
a person with mental retardation
a stupid person, or one who is slow to learn
- Afrikaans: idioot (af), idiote, nool, nole pl
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 笨蛋 (zh) (Bèndàn), 傻子 (zh) (Shǎzi),傻逼 (zh) (shǎbi), 智障 (zh) (Zhìzhàng)
- Dutch: mogool
- Finnish: vammainen (fi), vähä-älyinen (fi), see also Thesaurus:vammainen, kehari (fi)
- French: attardé (fr)
- Korean: 병신 (ko) (pyeongsin)
- Russian: то́рмоз (ru) m (tórmoz)
- Spanish: retrasado (es) m, retrasada (es) f
- Yiddish: תּם m (tam)
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Verb
retard (third-person singular simple present retards, present participle retarding, simple past and past participle retarded)
- (transitive) To keep delaying; to continue to hinder; to prevent from progressing.
- Synonyms: impede, hinder, hold up
retard the march of an army
retard the motion of a ship
- (transitive) To put off; to postpone.
to retard the attacks of old age
to retard a rupture between nations
- (transitive, obsolete) To be slow or dilatory to perform (something).
- (intransitive) To decelerate; to slow down.
2019, Airbus A350 - Landing (Retard) (YouTube), cockpit voice (actor):70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, retard, retard...
2021 June 2, Michael Rhodes, “Tinsley reborn...”, in RAIL, number 932, pages 35–36:This application of hydraulics led Sir George Dowty to develop the wagon retarder system, which comprised small hydraulic rams mounted inside the rail. These rams could simply retard a wagon, or both retard and 'boost' or speed up a wagon by hydraulic pressure.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To stay back.
1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: , 2nd edition, London: A Miller, for Edw Dod and Nath Ekins, , →OCLC:Some years it [The River Nile] hath also retarded, and come far later than usually it was expected
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
keep delaying; impede; etc
References
- ^ “BBC worst word vote”, in BBC - Ouch! Disability magazine, 2007 March 20 (last accessed), archived from the original on 20 March 2007
Anagrams
Catalan
Etymology
Deverbal from retardar.
Pronunciation
Noun
retard m (plural retards)
- delay
- Synonyms: demora, endarreriment
- El tren ha arribat amb dues hores de retard. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
Further reading
French
Etymology
Deverbal from retarder.
Pronunciation
Noun
retard m (plural retards)
- delay
Derived terms
Descendants
Further reading
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From French retard (“delay”), from the verb retarder (“to retard, slow down”).
Pronunciation
Noun
retard m (definite singular retarden, indefinite plural retarder, definite plural retardene)
- (horology) side in a clockwork to which the adjustment indicator must be set to make the clock go slower
- Synonyms: R, r
Antonyms
References
- “retard” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
Anagrams
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French retard.
Adjective
retard m or f or n (indeclinable)
- delaying
Declension
Declension of retard (invariable)
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singular
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plural
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masculine
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neuter
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feminine
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masculine
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neuter
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feminine
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nominative/ accusative
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indefinite
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retard
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retard
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retard
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retard
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definite
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genitive/ dative
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indefinite
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retard
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retard
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retard
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retard
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definite
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Noun
retard n (uncountable)
- delay
Declension
declension of retard (singular only)
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singular
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n gender
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indefinite articulation
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definite articulation
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nominative/accusative
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(un) retard
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retardul
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genitive/dative
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(unui) retard
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retardului
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vocative
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retardule
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