regression /rigresh″ən/ [L, regredi, to go back] , 1. a retreat or backward movement in conditions, signs, or symptoms. 2. a return to an earlier, more primitive form of behavior. 3. a tendency in physical development to become more typical of the population than of the parents, such as a child who attains a height closer to the average than to that of tall or short parents. −regress, v. 4. (in statistics) an examination of the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. See also linear regression.
