Etymologically
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report

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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

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