ABSTRACT
ABACK, BACKWARD, BEHIND, REARWARD, RETROGRADE, SURPRISE. Aback, in Anglo-Saxon, on bœc, at or on the back, is applied both to persons and localities. A person goes aback, backward, or rearward, or he retrogrades when in a movement opposite to forward or going ahead, and he goes behind when he passes from the front to the rear, and also when he fails to maintain a set gait in a movement or a course in a study.
