Etymologically
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result

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:46. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /rɪˈzʌlt/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English resulten, borrowed from Medieval Latin resultāre (“to result”),[2][3][4] from Latin resultāre (“to spring back, rebound, re-echo”),[2][5][6] a frequentative formed on the past participle of resilīre (“to leap back”),[2][5][3] from re- (“back”) and salīre (“to leap”).[3][7] It is related to resilient and salient.[2][8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

To arise as a consequence or effect: 1432–50[9] or the early 15th century;[5] Barnhart's first example is probably before 1425, in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon.[2]

Semantic evolution

The etymological sense “to spring back” is rare in English, found mostly in poetry from 1598 and now obsolete.[5][9] The noun first meant “the act of springing back”, in 1626 in Bacon's Sylva Sylvarum,[2][9] also obsolete.[5] “A decision or resolution of an assembly” is from 1647, now American.[9][6] “Outcome, effect, consequence” is from 1651[9] or the 1640s.[5] The quantity obtained by calculation is from 1771.[9] The result of a sports event is from 1916,[9] and results, favourable or desired consequences, by 1922.[5][9]

Timeline

  • c. 1432–50 – verb, to follow as a consequence.[9]
  • 1598 – verb, to spring back (obsolete).[9]
  • 1626 – noun, a springing back (Bacon).[2]
  • 1647 – a decision of an assembly.[9]
  • 1651 – an outcome.[9]
  • 1771 – the result of a calculation.[9]
  • 1916 – a sports result.[9]
  • 1922 – results, desired outcomes.[9]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To come about as a consequence.
  2. To end in a particular way: result in failure.

Noun

  1. The consequence of an action or course; an outcome.
  2. A favourable or concrete outcome: get results.
  3. The quantity obtained by calculation.
  4. The final score of a game or contest.

Word family

  • resultful
  • resultfulness
  • resultless
  • resultant
  • resile
  • resilient
  • resilience
  • salient
  • assault
  • insult
  • exult

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 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press