Etymologically
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refund

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 12:54. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: noun /ˈriː.fʌnd/; verb /ˌriːˈfʌnd/, /rɪˈfʌnd/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English refunden, borrowed from Old French refunder (“to restore”) and directly Latin refundō (“to pour back, give back, restore”),[2][3][4][5] from re- (“back”) and fundō (“to pour”) (see found),[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *gheu- (“to pour”).[3] In later use it was associated with fund.[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To pour back: 1386 in the OED, a citation that Barnhart could not find in the MED.[7][2] To transmit influence or restore: probably before 1425, in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon.[2]

Semantic evolution

To give back or restore is from 1432–50,[7] and to hand back or repay money from 1553.[2][7] To reimburse a person is from 1736.[7] The noun, a repayment, is from 1782 in Etymonline, 1866 in Barnhart and the OED.[3][2][7]

Timeline

  • 1386 – to pour back.[7]
  • before 1425 – to restore.[2]
  • 1553 – to repay money.[2][7]
  • 1736 – to reimburse a person.[7]
  • 1782 – a refund (noun).[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To give back money; to repay.
  2. To reimburse a person.

Noun

  1. A repayment of money.
  2. The amount repaid.

Word family

  • refundable
  • refunder
  • refundment
  • refundability
  • unrefunded
  • unrefunding

Usage notes

Refund, to fund a debt again (1860, in Worcester's Dictionary), is a separate formation from re- and fund.[2][7][5]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press