redeemer

Etymology

It is formed from English redeem + -er,^[2][3][4][5] first as redemer.^[6][4][5] The OED notes that in the religious sense, and in an obsolete theatrical one, it follows Latin redemptor.^[2] Redeem is from Middle English redemen, from Old French redimer (“to buy back”) and Latin redimō (“to buy back, redeem”),^[3][7] formed from red- (“back”) and emō (“to take, buy, gain”),^[3][7] which Etymonline derives from Proto-Indo-European *em- (“to take, distribute”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who saves others from sin or damnation, especially God or Christ: perhaps before 1475, in the Middle English translation of Higden's Polychronicon, of a man who claimed to be the redemer of man.^[2][6] Etymonline dates the word to the early 15th century, and says it was at first used only of Christ as saviour of the world.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word replaced the earlier redemptor, which the OED records in the same sense from about 1438, in the Book of Margery Kempe.^[3][2] The general sense, a person who redeems someone or something in any way, followed in 1552, in Huloet's dictionary.^[2] Johnson (1755) gave both, "one who ransoms or redeems" and "the Saviour of the world".^[8] A rare early-17th-century sense, a contractor who built stages for the theatre, is obsolete.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1475 – one who saves others from sin, especially God or Christ.^[2][6]
• 1552 – a person who redeems someone or something.^[2]
• before 1610 – a contractor who builds theatre stages (obsolete, rare).^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who redeems someone or something; a saviour or deliverer: She was hailed as the redeemer of the struggling club.^[4][7][2]
2. the Redeemer: Jesus Christ, as the one who brought redemption to humankind.^[9][7][2]

Related words

• redeem
• redemption
• redemptor

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
7. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins