Etymograph

English

regression

Regression comes from Latin regressio.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEregressio1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1899regression1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English regression
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1899, Thorstein Veblen, The Theory of the Leisure Class […]: “Few of these groups or communities that are classed…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEregressioWiktionary, English regression
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1899regressionWiktionary, English regression. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1899, Thorstein Veblen, The Theory of the Leisure Class […]: “Few of these groups or communities that are classed…”

Formed from regress + -ion

Proto-Indo-European *gʰredʰ- ‘to walk, go’

Latin gradior ‘to go’

Latin regredior ‘to go back’

Latin regressus

English regress

The story

The statistics sense comes from regression to the mean.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Latin regressio

Today it means

noun An action of regressing, a return to a previous state.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “regression”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin regressio / regression

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