Etymologically
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remind

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /rɪˈmaɪnd/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English re- (“again”) + mind (“to bring to mind”),[2][3][4] a Latin–Germanic hybrid,[3] probably on the model of obsolete rememorate in the same sense.[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To recall something to one's own mind, to remember: 1645 in the OED and Barnhart, the 1640s in Etymonline, a sense now obsolete,[7][2][3] while MWU gives 1615 for its first sense.[7][2][3][8]

Semantic evolution

To put someone in mind of something, to make them remember, is from 1660 (the 1650s in Etymonline),[7][2][3] and with an infinitive or a clause, as in remind me to call, from 1662.[7] Reminder is from 1653, though rare before the 19th century.[2][4] In Scots, remind long kept the old sense “to remember, keep in mind”.[9]

Timeline

  • 1615 – first sense, in MWU.[8]
  • 1645 – to remember.[7]
  • 1653 – reminder.[2]
  • 1660 – to put someone in mind.[7][2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To make someone remember something, or remember to do something.
  2. To make someone think of something similar: she reminds me of her mother.

Word family

  • reminder
  • remindful
  • unreminded
  • reremind

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 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. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)