'backpedal' originates from Modern English, a compound of 'back' and 'pedal' (from Latin 'pedalis' ultimately from 'pes' meaning 'foot'), where 'back' meant 'the rear' and 'pedal' related to 'foot' or 'to push with the foot'.

'backpedal' developed in the 20th century from the literal bicycling action of pedaling backward; it was soon used figuratively to describe reversing a stance or statement.

Initially, it meant 'to pedal backward on a bicycle', but over time it evolved into the figurative sense 'to reverse one's position or retreat from a previous statement'.