Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To attempt to estimate the previous state from the present.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

retro- +‎ predict

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word retrodict.

Examples

  • But ID creationism does not really retrodict anything; it only predicts that we will never figure out how, say, certain flagella evolved.

    Evolution Videos and More - The Panda's Thumb 2009

  • But even the climate modelers bemoan their inability to retrodict the last ten years of global “warming”.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » AsteroidGate 2009

  • Computer models, which despite a rocky start are now able to "" retrodict '' the climate of the past 30 to 50 years, forecast more warming at night than day, more very hot summer days and fewer frigid winter days in the U.S. and Europe and more frequent heavy rains and droughts.

    Too Much Hot Air 2008

  • It's just that it's easier to retrodict than to predict.

    Uncovering Secrets, Big And Small 2008

  • According to classical mechanics, from that data (the “information”) and the laws of physics, we can reliably predict the precise state of the universe at every moment in the future — and retrodict the prior states of the universe at every moment in the past.

    The Black Hole War Sean 2008

  • Especially, that is, if one wants to believe that GCMs can reliably retrodict temperature.

    Rutherford, Mann et al [2005] « Climate Audit 2006

  • Nakata taps commands, gets a retrodict bearing on the epicenter.

    Starfish 1999

  • Once it becomes independent of the priors, you can also retrodict the past in the same way as you predict the future and the arrow of time would become invisible (assuming a complete knowledge of the system).

    The Reference Frame 2009

  • However from what I’ve read none of the models used are spot-on accurate when run in reverse to “retrodict” past climate.

    Matthew Yglesias » The Inconveniently Boring Truth 2007

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • predicting the past

    October 11, 2009