responsive

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French responsif (“that contains a response, responding”), and in part directly Late Latin respōnsīvus (“answering”),^[2][3][4][5] from Latin respōns-, the past participle stem of respondeō (“to answer”),^[2][6] with the suffix -īvus.^[2][4] The Latin verb is formed from re- (“back”) and spondeō (“to pledge”).^[6] The Middle French word is recorded from the late 14th century,^[2] and the Anglo-Norman responsif, constituting a reply, from 1401.^[7] Etymonline gives Old French as the source.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a letter, written in reply, answering: 1419, in the proceedings of the Privy Council.^[2] Etymonline dates "making answer, responding" to the early 15th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

From answering in words, the adjective widened to responding in general (1653).^[2] Shakespeare used it in Hamlet (1604) for "corresponding, suited to", a sense now rare,^[2] and Johnson (1755) still listed both "answering" and "correspondent; suited to something else".^[8] A sense "responsible, answerable" was used from 1642 to 1801.^[2] The modern sense, reacting quickly to a stimulus or influence, is recorded from 1657 in the OED^[2] but only from 1762 in Etymonline;^[6] the OED also has it of reacting keenly to something from 1757.^[2] In church music and worship it came to describe something made up of responses (1771).^[2] The word was also a noun, an answer (c. 1487), a grammatical answering word (1531) and a response to a versicle (1789).^[2]

Timeline

• 1419 – of a letter, written in reply.^[2]
• c. 1487 – noun, an answer.^[2]
• 1604 – corresponding, suited to (now rare).^[2]
• 1642 – responsible, answerable (obsolete by 1801).^[2]
• 1653 – responding, making reply.^[2]
• 1657 – responding quickly to a stimulus or influence.^[2]
• 1771 – characterized by responses.^[2]
• 1956 – in bridge, of a double made in response to a partner's double.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Reacting quickly and positively to something, such as a request, a suggestion or the needs of others: The new manager was responsive to the staff's complaints.
2. (of an organism or a part of it) Reacting to a stimulus.
3. Given or made as an answer: a responsive nod.
4. Made up of or using responses, as in a church service where the people answer the leader.

Word family

• responsively
• responsiveness
• hyperresponsive
• irresponsive

Related words

• respond
• response
• responsible
• correspond
• sponsor
• spouse

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.