Etymologically
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rejection

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /rɪˈdʒekʃ(ə)n/, /rəˈdʒekʃ(ə)n/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French réjection or directly Latin reiectiō (“a throwing back”),[2][3] from the past participle stem of reiciō (“to throw back”) (see reject).[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of throwing off or away, refusal to accept or grant: 1552 in the OED, the 1550s in Etymonline.[4][2] An earlier use, the setting aside of a wife, divorce, is from the mid-15th century,[2] and Merriam-Webster gives the 15th century.[3]

Semantic evolution

As something rejected, it meant excrement from 1605 and in the 19th century.[4][2] The psychological sense, emotional rejection especially by a parent, is from 1931,[2][4] in electronics the attenuating of an unwanted signal from 1940,[4] and the failure of a transplanted organ in the body from 1954.[2][4] A rejection slip, a publisher's refusal, is from 1907.[4]

Timeline

  • mid-15th century – divorce.[2]
  • 1552 – refusal.[4]
  • 1907 – rejection slip.[4]
  • 1931 – emotional rejection.[2][4]
  • 1954 – rejection of a transplant.[2][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act of rejecting or the state of being rejected.
  2. Something rejected.
  3. (medicine) The failure of the body to accept a transplanted organ or tissue.

Word family

  • antirejection
  • nonrejection
  • prerejection
  • rejectionist
  • rejection region
  • rejection slip

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press