retroactivity
retroactivity noun: the state or characteristic of being retroactive.
Noun
retroactivity (usually uncountable, plural retroactivities)
- The state or characteristic of being retroactive.
- The application of a law to events that took place before it was made.
- Should the legislation pass with the retroactivity provision, the firm's percentage would apply to the amount already due the states; if not, it would apply to the amount they collect over the next 12 years.1994 May 6, Todd Purdum, “New Yorkers in Congress at War With a Lawyer”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 03 Feb 2023
- it must be pointed out that the distinction between retroactivity and retrospectivity, while describing a real difference in the verbal form in which retrospective law is expressed, lacks normative and practical significance.2008, Ben Juratowitch, Retroactivity and the Common Law, page 12
Synonyms of retroactivity
Forms of retroactivity
| plural | retroactivities |
|---|
Origin of retroactivity
From retroactive + -ity.
Words formed from retroactivity
Questions about retroactivity
- What does retroactivity mean?
- Retroactivity means the state or characteristic of being retroactive.
- What part of speech is retroactivity?
- Retroactivity is a noun.
- What is the plural of retroactivity?
- The plural of retroactivity is retroactivities.
Words near retroactivity in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: retroactivity (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “retroactivity.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/retroactivity. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.