redo

Etymology

It is formed from English re- (“again”) + do.^[2][3][4][5] The OED compares Middle French refaire.^[2] The noun redo is from the verb.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To do something again: 1598, in a translation of Jacques Guillemeau's Frenche Chirurgerye.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense "to repair, restore", and especially to redecorate a room or a building, is recorded from 1864, in Trollope's Can You Forgive Her?.^[2][3] A rare sense, to do something back to a person in return, is found only in 1650.^[2] The noun, a repetition or a second attempt, appeared in the mid 20th century, first in 1949.^[2][5]

Timeline

• 1598 – to do again.^[2][4]
• 1864 – to redecorate or refurbish.^[2][3]
• 1949 – noun, an act of redoing something.^[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To do something again or differently: The teacher let him redo the test.^[6][4][2]
2. (informal) To redecorate or refurbish a room or building: We redid the bathroom last spring.^[6][4][2]

Noun

1. An act of doing something again; a repetition or second attempt.^[4][2][5]

Related words

• do
• undo

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins