retroactive

[Fr. rétroactif.] 1. Ord. Lang .: Acting or designed to act in regard to things past; intended to retroact; capable of retroacting; operating by returned action; retrospective. "The death of Christ had a retroactive effect on those that lived and died before they were redeemed."- Boling broke: Fragments, § 38. 2. Law : Applied to a law or statute which oper. ates to affect, make criminal, or punishable, acts done prior to the pa ing of the law. "A bill of pains and penalties was introduced, a retroact ire statute, to punish the offenses, which did not exist at the time they were committed."-Gibbon: Memoirs, p. xi. re-trō-ăc-tive-ly, adv . [Eng. retroactive ; -ly.] In a retroactive manner; by retroaction or returned action or operation; retrospectively.