redound

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English redounden,^[2][3][4] partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman redounder and redonder, also redunder, and partly borrowed from Latin redundāre (“to flow back, overflow”).^[5][2] The French verb is recorded from the first quarter of the 13th century in the OED, meaning to abound,^[5] from the 12th century in Etymonline,^[3] and the Anglo-Norman redunder, to flow back or rebound, from about 1136–65.^[6] The Latin verb is formed from re-, in its form red- before a vowel,^[5][7][8] and undō (“to flow in waves”),^[5][8] from unda (“wave”).^[7][8][9] The OED notes probable confusion with rebound in some of the obsolete senses, and that the “Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch” suggests a separate, imitative origin for the French word in the sense "to rebound".^[5] The Oxford Dictionary of English attributes the modern sense to association with that verb.^[10] The Latin verb also gave redundant.^[11][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To overflow; to be plentiful; to flow back: all three before 1382, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible,^[5][2][4] which renders Latin redundavit as "redundede" in "in to manye watris redundede".^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word kept the physical sense of its Latin source for some centuries: waves redound in Pope,^[7] and the use for water is last recorded in 1837.^[5] It also applied to bodily fluids that overflowed, from 1543 to 1715,^[5][9] and figuratively to what was excessive or superfluous, from 1616 to 1667.^[5] From the sense of flowing back came that of coming back as a result, and so of contributing to someone's advantage or disadvantage,^[3] recorded in the OED from 1460,^[5] in Barnhart probably before 1425, in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon,^[4] and in French redonder à from the late 14th century.^[5] The specific use with honour or disgrace follows in 1474.^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to be sent back by reaction", "to conduce in the consequence" and "to fall in the consequence", with Addison's "redound to the honour of this prince".^[12] Weekley notes that the literal sense was formerly common and that the figurative one has taken over,^[13] which is what survives today: redound to one's credit.^[8][14]

Timeline

• before 1382 – to surge up or overflow; to be plentiful; to flow back or return.^[5][2][4]
• 1460 – to have the effect of contributing to some advantage or disadvantage.^[5] Barnhart finds this probably before 1425, and Etymonline in the early 15th century.^[4][3]
• 1474 – to contribute to the honour or disgrace of a person or nation.^[5]
• 1483 – to abound or be rich in a thing or quality.^[5]
• c. 1500 – to rebound after impact; to recoil.^[5]
• 1543 – of a bodily fluid, to overflow (obsolete by 1715).^[5]
• 1616 – figuratively, to be excessive or superfluous (obsolete by 1667).^[5]
• before 1665 – noun, reverberation, an echo (obsolete by 1863).^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To have a good or bad effect on someone, or to add to their credit or discredit, followed by to: The quick rescue redounded to the crew's credit.^{[8][14][7][5]}
2. To come back as a consequence; to recoil, followed by on or upon: The scandal redounded upon the whole family.^[8][14][9]
3. (archaic) To arise or accrue.^[8][9]
4. (archaic) To reflect or bring honour or blame on someone.^[8][9]
5. (archaic) To be excessive in quantity; to overflow.^[7][5]
6. (obsolete, 1382–1837) Of water or waves, to surge up or swell.^[5][9][7]
7. (obsolete, 1382–1581) To be plentiful; to abound.^[5][9]

Noun

1. (obsolete, 1665–1863) Reverberation, an echo.^[5][9]

Related words

• redundancy
• redundant
• rebound
• abound
• undulate
• inundate

Usage notes

Dictionary.com lists redound among words easily confused with rebound and resound.^[15]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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)
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
7. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
14. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
15. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House