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respond

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /rɪˈspɒnd/, US /rɪˈspɑːnd/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English respounden, borrowed from Anglo-Norman respundre, borrowed from Old French respondre (“to respond, correspond”),[2][3] and directly from Latin respondēre (“to answer, promise in return, correspond”),[2][4] from re- “back” and spondēre “to pledge, promise”.[2][4][5] It is related to response, responsible, sponsor and spouse.[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To answer or reply: about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The modern spelling and pronunciation date from about 1600.[2] The noun respond came first in several sources: a responsory in church (1387) and, in architecture, a half-pillar attached to a wall (1448).[6][5] The NODE dates the verb in its modern use to the mid 16th century, and the OED's verb senses are from 1588 on: to correspond to something (1591), and to answer in words (1719).[7][6] Making a liturgical response is from the 17th century.[2] To react to a stimulus or to treatment, and to react favourably, are later senses.[8][9] In bridge, to make a bid in reply to one's partner is from 1958.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – to answer.[4][2]
  • 1387 – noun, a responsory.[6]
  • 1448 – noun, a half-pillar.[6]
  • c. 1600 – the modern spelling.[2]
  • 1719 – to reply in words.[6]
  • 1958 – in bridge.[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To say or write something as an answer.
  2. To act in reply or react: respond to a challenge.
  3. To react favourably, as to treatment.

Noun

  1. (architecture) A half-pillar attached to a wall to support an arch.

Word family

  • responder
  • overrespond
  • respondence
  • unresponding
  • responsive

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins