report

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /rɪˈpɔːt/, US /rɪˈpɔːrt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English report, with the verb reporten, borrowed from Old French report (“pronouncement, judgment”) and reporter (“to tell, relate”),^[2][3][4] from Latin reportāre (“to carry back”),^[2][3][5] from re- (“back”) and portāre (“to carry”).^[2][5][3] In Medieval Latin reportāre also meant “to write an account for the record”.^[2] The Shorter Oxford notes that the usual English sense is closer to Old French raporter, modern French rapporter.^[4] It is related to port, “to carry”.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rumour, gossip, common talk: about 1385, in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, where the verb “to relate, give an account of” also appears.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

An account of a matter, especially one being investigated, is from about 1410,^[3] and an authoritative account from the early 15th century.^[2] A written account of a law case is from the 1610s, and the formal statement of an investigation's results from the 1660s.^[2] The loud noise of a gun or explosion is a report from 1590^[3] or the 1580s.^[2] The verb meant “to submit to an authority” in the early 15th century,^[2] which led to “to present oneself”, as in report for duty, in the 19th century.^[7] To report someone, to name them as an offender, is from 1885.^[2] A teacher's written report on a pupil is American, from about 1840 according to Barnhart^[3] or 1873 according to Etymonline, and the report card from the 1910s or 1920s.^[2][3] Reporter is from 1450, altered from Chaucer's reportour.^[3] Reportage meant “repute” in 1612, and journalistic reporting from 1891.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1385 – rumour; verb, to relate (Chaucer).^[3]
• c. 1410 – an account of a matter.^[3]
• 1450 – reporter.^[3]
• 1590 – the noise of a gun.^[3]
• 1610s – a law report.^[2]
• 1660s – the report of an investigation.^[2]
• c. 1840 – a school report.^[3]
• 1885 – to report an offender.^[2]
• 1891 – reportage, reporting.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A detailed spoken or written account.
2. A formal account of the work of a committee or the findings of an investigation.
3. A published account of court cases or decisions.
4. Rumour, gossip.
5. Reputation: of good report.
6. An explosive noise, as of a gun.

Verb

1. To give an account of, often formally or officially.
2. To write or broadcast an account of for the news.
3. To present oneself: report for duty.
4. To be accountable to: reports to the manager.
5. To make a complaint about; to denounce.

Word family

• reportable
• misreport
• reportorial
• overreport
• reporter
• underreport
• unreported
• subreport

Related words

• port
• porter
• rapport

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 j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press