Definitions for: Retardation


[n] the act of slowing down or falling behind
[n] a decrease in speed; "the deceleration of the arms race"
[n] lack of normal development of intellectual capacities
[n] any agent that retards or delays or hinders; "flame-retardant"
[n] the extent to which something is delayed or held back



Webster (1913) Definition: Re`tar*da"tion, n. [L. retardatio: cf. F.
retardation.]
1. The act of retarding; hindrance; the act of delaying; as,
the retardation of the motion of a ship; -- opposed to
acceleration.

The retardations of our fluent motion. --De Quinsey.

2. That which retards; an obstacle; an obstruction.

Hills, sloughs, and other terrestrial retardations.
--Sir W.
Scott.

3. (Mus.) The keeping back of an approaching consonant chord
by prolonging one or more tones of a previous chord into
the intermediate chord which follows; -- differing from
suspension by resolving upwards instead of downwards.

4. The extent to which anything is retarded; the amount of
retarding or delay.

Retardation of the tide.
(a) The lunitidal interval, or the hour angle of the moon
at the time of high tide any port; the interval
between the transit of the moon and the time of high
tide next following.
(b) The age of the tide; the retard of the tide. See under
Retard, n.

Synonyms: backwardness, deceleration, lag, mental retardation, retardant, retardent, slowdown, slowing, slowness, subnormality

Antonyms: acceleration

See Also: abnormality, agent, amentia, delay, delay, Down syndrome, Down's syndrome, fastness, hold, holdup, idiocy, imbecility, mental defectiveness, mental deficiency, mongolianism, mongolism, moronity, postponement, speed, stupidity, swiftness, time lag, trisomy 21, wait

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