redundante

Forms

redundante m or f (plural redundantes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin redundans (“overflowing; superabundant”), the present participle of redundo (“to flow back, overflow”), taken by the learned route.^[2][3][4][5] Cunha lists it under the verb redundar, which entered Portuguese in the 16th century, a century before the adjective.^[4]

The Latin verb is formed from red- (“back, again”) and undo (“to surge, flow”), itself from unda (“wave”).^[6][1] The same participle gave French redondant.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is from 1664, in a Portuguese version of the Aeneid.^[2] Morais quotes the Eneida for the literal sense “overflowing”, as in “a basin of overflowing water” and “overflowing tears”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) already gives both senses: “very full, overflowing”, with a quotation from Vieira about water flowing as from an overflowing spring, and “superfluous”, of letters or words that add nothing to a sentence.^[8] Morais (1789) adds the spelling sense of letters that are not needed for the sound of a word, giving doubled consonants as his example.^[7] The old Caldas Aulete speaks of a estilo redundante, a style overloaded with ornament.^[9] Modern dictionaries keep the senses “excessive”, “superfluous” and “wordy”, and add the rhetorical sense “pleonastic” and that of repeating information already given.^[5][2]

Timeline

• 16th century – the verb redundar is first recorded.^[4]
• 1664 – first record of redundante, in a translation of the Aeneid.^[2]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau gives the senses “overflowing” and “superfluous”.^[8]
• 1789 – Morais calls it the present participle of redundar and records the sense “superfluous letter”.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. superabundant, excessive; that overflows.^[2][5][10]
2. superfluous, not essential.^[11][5]
3. wordy, prolix (prolixo): Achei o relatório redundante e longo demais.^[5][10]
4. (rhetoric) pleonastic: repeating an idea already contained in a preceding word or phrase.^[5][1]
5. That repeats information already given; repetitive (repetitivo).^[5][9]

Related words

• redundar
• redundância
• Latin redundo

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. redundante
3. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. redundante
4. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. redundar
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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. redundante
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. redundō
7. ^ a b c 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
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. redundante
9. ^ a b 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. redundante
10. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 7885
11. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. redundante