a retro

Italian

Etymology

Corresponds to a Vulgar Latin *ad retrō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a‿rˈrɛ.tro/

Adverb

a retro

1. (literary) behind
   • mid 1300s–mid 1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto I”, in Inferno [Hell]‎^[1], lines 25–27; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate]‎^[2], 2^nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:

     […] così l’animo mio, ch’ancor fuggiva,
     si volse a retro a rimirar lo passo
     che non lasciò già mai persona viva.

     So did my soul, that still was fleeing onward,
     ⁠turn itself back to rebehold the pass
     which never yet a living person left.

See also

• di retro

Further reading

• rètro in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana