Retroactive

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Retroactive \Re`tro*act"ive\, a. [Cf. F. r['e]troactif.]
     Fitted or designed to retroact; operating by returned action;
     affecting what is past; retrospective. --Beddoes.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {Retroactive law} or {Retroactive statute} (Law), one which


        operates to make criminal or punishable, or in any way
        expressly to affect, acts done prior to the passing of the
        law.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  retroactive
       adj 1: descriptive of any event or stimulus or process that has an
              effect on the effects of events or stimuli or process
              that occurred previously [ant: {proactive}]
       2: affecting things past; "retroactive tax increase"; "an
          ex-post-facto law"; "retro pay" [syn: {ex post facto}, {retro}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  24 Moby Thesaurus words for "retroactive":
     a priori, antiphonal, back, backward, early, ex post facto,
     into the past, reacting, reactionary, reactive, recessive, reflex,
     reflexive, refluent, regressive, respondent, responding,
     responsive, retroactionary, retrocessive, retrograde,
     retrogressive, retrospective, revulsive