redundância

Forms

redundância f (plural redundâncias)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin redundantia (“overflowing, excess”), a learned word first recorded in 1589 in Arrais.^[2][3][1] Nascentes calls it semi-learned.^[4] Cunha records it in the 16th century beside the verb redundar, also of the 16th century, and the adjective redundante, of the 17th.^[3] Wiktionary notes that the word can also be read in Portuguese as the verb with the suffix -ância.^[1]

The Latin noun is formed from redundāns, the present participle of redundō (“to overflow”), a compound of red- (“back, again”) and undō (“to surge, flow”), from unda (“wave”).^[1] In Latin it meant a flowing back and an excessive flow, and Cicero already used it of an overflow of words.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is from Arrais in 1589.^[2] Morais's dictionary of 1813 quotes Arrais for redundancia de consolação, “an overflowing of consolation”, where the word means an abundance more than enough.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau's dictionary defines the word as an excessive abundance of anything, and gives redundancia de palavras “a redundancy of words” as its use in speech.^[8] Morais (1789) defines it in the same way, as surplus and excessive copiousness.^[9] The original Caldas Aulete adds the rhetorical sense “pleonasm” and the phrase redundância de estilo, an overuse of ornament in speech.^[10]

In the 20th century the word took a technical sense in communication theory and linguistics: the repetition of information in a message, which makes up for noise in the channel and makes the message easier to understand.^[11][12][13]

Timeline

• 1589 – first record, in Arrais.^[2]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines the word and gives redundancia de palavras.^[8]
• 1789 – Morais defines it as surplus, excessive copiousness.^[9]
• 1813 – Morais's second edition quotes Arrais for redundancia de consolação.^[7]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira's dictionary derives the word from Latin.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality of being redundant; excess, superabundance.^[2][11][13]
2. Needless repetition of words or ideas; prolixity: O relatório perdeu força com tanta redundância.^[2][13][15]
3. (grammar, rhetoric) Pleonasm, tautology.^[2][11][15]
4. (communication theory, linguistics) The repetition of information in a message, which offsets the effect of noise and helps the message to be understood.^[11][12][13]
5. redundância de estilo: an overuse of ornament in speech or writing.^[2][16]

Related words

• redundar
• redundante
• Latin redundantia

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. redundância
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. redundar
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. redundância
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. redundantia
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. redundantia
7. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 575
8. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. redundância
9. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 304
10. ^ Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. redundância
11. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. redundância
12. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 7885
13. ^ a b c d Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. redundância
14. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 5, 143
15. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. redundância
16. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. redundância