1. A return to an earlier state
   "The country experienced a regression to authoritarian rule";
   - regress, reversion, retrogression, retroversion
    
2. An abnormal state in which development has stopped prematurely
   "The psychologist diagnosed the patient with regression";
   - arrested development, fixation, infantile fixation
    
3. (psychiatry) a defence mechanism in which you flee from reality by assuming a more infantile state
   "Under extreme stress, he exhibited regression, reverting to childlike behaviors"
    
4. (statistics) 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)
   "The economist used simple regression to predict sales based on advertising expenditure"; "Regression toward the mean explains why extreme performances are often followed by more average ones";
   - simple regression, regression toward the mean, statistical regression
    
5. (programming) the reappearance of a software bug that has been fixed at least once before
   "The developers were frustrated by the regression of a previously solved issue"

Derived forms: regressions

Type of: abnormalcy [US], abnormality, defence [Brit, Cdn], defence mechanism [Brit, Cdn], defence reaction [Brit, Cdn], defense [US], defense mechanism [US], defense reaction [US], reversal, statistical method, statistical procedure

Part of: regression analysis

Encyclopedia: Regression