backreference

== English == === Alternative forms === back-reference === Etymology === From back +‎ reference. === Pronunciation === === Noun === backreference (plural backreferences) (regular expressions) An item in a regular expression equivalent to the text matched by an earlier pattern in the expression. === Verb === backreference (third-person singular simple present backreferences, present participle backreferencing, simple past and past participle backreferenced) (regular expressions, transitive) To access (the text matched by an earlier pattern in a regular expression).