rétro
French, noun/ʁe.tʁo/
rétro is spelled R-É-T-R-O (5 letters) and appears 4.5 times per million words in written French, the 12,122nd most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Rétro is a French masculine noun meaning “rear-view mirror (mirror inside a vehicle that allows the driver to see the traffic behind)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Rétroviseur”.
What does rétro mean in English?
noun
- 1
informalmasculinerear-view mirror (mirror inside a vehicle that allows the driver to see the traffic behind)
- 2
informalmasculinewing mirror, side mirror (either of a pair of mirrors on the sides of a car or other vehicle that enable the driver to see to the side and behind)
adjective
- 1
informalretro
un style un peu rétro
prefix
- 1
retro-, back, behind
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Qui appartient au passé. 2. Se dit de quelque chose ou quelqu’un qui imite un style passé ou une mode révolue.
adjective: 1. Qui revient en arrière.
noun: 1. Rétroviseur.
prefix: 1. En arrière, retour.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of rétro
- rétros plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce rétro?
- /ʁe.tʁo/
- \ʁe.tʁo\
- \ʁe.tʁɔ\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to rétro
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is rétro in French?
rétro appears 4.5 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).