different between bygone vs retrospect

English

Etymology

From by (adverb) +? gone.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?ba???n/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?ba???n/
• Homophone: bigon (depending on the dialect)

Adjective

bygone (not comparable)

1. Having been or happened in the distant past.

Synonyms

• foregone, historical; see also Thesaurus:past

Translations

Noun

bygone (plural bygones)

1. (usually in the plural) An event that happened in the past.
   • 1881, Pearl Hyem, The fisherman's cove; or, Christianity realised (page 54)

     Jennie Fox watched it with thoughtful pleasure, and the rest were chatting and telling of bygones, enjoying a glass of egg-hot; it being a custom for them to partake of this beverage on this particular night.

Related terms

• let bygones be bygones

Translations

Anagrams

• gone by

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin retr?spectum, from retr?spicio (“to look back at”), equivalent to retro- +? -spect Compare review.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???t?o?sp?kt/

Noun

retrospect (plural retrospects)

1. Consideration of past times.
   • 1853, Charlotte Bronte, "Villette":

     My mind, calmer and stronger now than last night, made for itself some imperious rules, prohibiting under deadly penalties all weak retrospect of happiness past; commanding a patient journeying through the wilderness of the present...

   • 1976, Terry Kay, The Year the Lights Came On, 1989 University of Georgia Press edition, ?ISBN, page 298:

     Whether, like Colin, in retrospect Willie Lee and Baptist would feel that what has vanished was greater than what was achieved, is not something we can predict.

   Antonym: prospect

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

retrospect (third-person singular simple present retrospects, present participle retrospecting, simple past and past participle retrospected)

1. To look or refer back to; to reflect on.
   • 1800: Alexander Hamilton, Letter from Alexander Hamilton, Concerning the Public Conduct and Character of John Adams, Esq. President of the United States - To give a correct idea of the circumstances.., it may be useful to retrospect to an early period.

See also

• hindsight
• review

Anagrams

• protecters, reprotects