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Etymology and origin of the English word rewind

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1650 Somnium Cantabrigiense
Ultimate origins
English re-Old English wind
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English wind
English rewind
From the same root
English windshield ← wind

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɹiːˈwaɪnd/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English re- (“back, again”) + wind.[2][3][4][5] The noun is a conversion of the verb.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To wind something back or again: 1650, in Somnium Cantabrigiense.[2] Merriam-Webster gives 1662,[4] Etymonline 1717,[3] and the Shorter Oxford dates the verb to the early 18th century.[5]

Semantic evolution

Early uses were of thread or yarn wound again,[5][4] and since 1802 also of a clock or watch wound up again.[2] With film and tape in the 20th century the main sense became winding back onto the original reel or spool.[5][6][4] The noun followed: a mechanism for winding film or tape back from 1914, and the act of rewinding from 1918.[2][4] Etymonline dates the device to 1938 and the act to 1964.[3] From 1960 the verb was used figuratively of going back over a series of events, as one runs back a tape.[2] From the 1990s, chiefly in Britain, a DJ's rewind was a replay of a record, often called for by the crowd.[2]

Timeline

  • 1650 – to wind something back or again.[2] Merriam-Webster dates the verb to 1662, Etymonline to 1717.[4][3]
  • 1802 – to wind a clock or watch again.[2]
  • 1862 – intransitive, to wind back.[2]
  • 1914 – noun, a mechanism for rewinding film or tape.[2][4]
  • 1918 – noun, the act of winding tape or film back.[2]
  • 1960 – figuratively, to go back over events.[2]
  • 1993 – a DJ's replay of a record.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To wind a film or tape back to the beginning, or to an earlier point: She rewound the video to watch the goal again.[6][4][2]
  2. To wind something again: rewind the thread on the spool.[4][2]
  3. To go back over past events in one's mind.[2]

Noun

  1. The act of rewinding.[6][4][2]
  2. A device or button for rewinding film or tape.[4][2]
  3. Something that has been rewound.[6][4]
  4. (chiefly British) A replay of a record by a DJ.[2]

Word family

  • rewinder

References

  1. ^ 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. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d 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 Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Rewind.” Etymologically, 1 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/rewind. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·