The term retrograde is from the Latin word retrogradus – "backward-step", the affix retro- meaning "backwards" and gradi to step or "to go". Retrograde is most commonly an adjective used to describe the path of a planet as it travels through the night sky, with respect to the zodiac, stars, and other bodies of the celestial canopy. In this context, the term refers to planets, as they appear from Earth, to stop briefly and reverse direction at certain times though in reality, of course, we now understand that they perpetually orbit in the same uniform direction.[2]
