remainder

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɹɪˈmeɪndə/, /ɹəˈmeɪndə/ (UK); /ɹəˈmeɪndɚ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English remaindre, borrowed from Anglo-Norman remeinder, the noun use of the infinitive remaindre, a variant of Old French remanoir, to stay, be left,^[2][3] from Latin remanēre, to remain, stay behind (see remain),^[2][4] from re-, back, and manēre, to stay.^[2] The -d- is unetymological.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In law, an interest in an estate that passes to a second party when a prior interest ends: the late 14th century in Etymonline, 1424 in the OED.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Those still left of a number of people is from before 1547,^[5] and the general sense, that which remains after part has been taken away, is by the 1550s (1560).^[2][5] In mathematics it is from the 1570s.^[2] In publishing, the unsold copies of an edition sold off cheaply are remainders from 1757,^[2] and the verb, to dispose of them, is by 1902–04.^[2][6] Remainder man is from 1743.^[5] The right to succeed to a title on the death of its holder is from 1809.^[5]

Timeline

• 1424 – a legal remainder.^[5]
• 1560 – what is left.^[5]
• 1570s – in arithmetic.^[2]
• 1757 – unsold books.^[2]
• 1902 – to remainder books (verb).^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The part left over after the rest has been used, taken away or dealt with.
2. (mathematics) The amount left over when one number is divided by another, or the difference after subtraction.
3. (law) An interest in an estate that takes effect when a prior interest ends.
4. A copy of a book left with the publisher after sales have fallen, sold off cheaply.

Verb

1. To sell off unsold books as remainders.

Word family

• remainderman

Related words

• remain
• remnant
• residue
• mansion

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster