retrodict \reh-truh-DIKT\ verb
: to utilize present information or ideas to infer or explain (a past event or state of affairs)
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Example sentence:
Geologists have retrodicted the positions of the continents millions of years ago.
Did you know?
We predict that you will guess the correct origins of "retrodict," and chances are we will not contradict you. English speakers had started using "predict" by at least the early 17th century; it's a word formed by combining "prae-" (meaning "before") and "dicere" (meaning "to say"). Since the rough translation of "predict" is "to say before," it's no surprise that when people in the 1950s wanted a word for "predicting" the past, they created it by combining the word for "backward" ("retro-") with the "-dict" of "predict." Other "dicere" descendants in English include "contradict," "benediction," "dictate," "diction," "interdict," "malediction," and, of course, "dictionary."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
My sentence:
Even though the explanation of the beginnings of the usage of retrodict make sense, it still sounds like a trendy 21st century word.











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