logo       

redound: msg#00009

culture.language.word-of-the-day

Subject: redound

****************************************************************
Looking for a new kind of post-holiday feeding frenzy?
Feast on a free trial to Merriam-Webster Unabridged!
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/unabridged_sub.pl?refr=U_wod
****************************************************************

The Word of the Day for January 10 is:

redound \ri-DOWND ("OW" as in "down")\ verb
*1 : to have an effect
2 : to become transferred or added : accrue

Example sentence:
"[George] Washington was convinced that treating other nations equally and
fairly would ultimately redound to the well-being of the United States." (Jay
Tolson, _U.S. News & World Report_, September 22, 2003)

Did you know?
Although it looks and sounds like a number of similar words (including
"rebound," "resound," "abound," and "redundant"), "redound" is a distinct term.
It developed from the Middle French "redunder," which in turn came from the
Latin "redundare," meaning "to overflow." In its earliest known English uses in
the late 1300s, "redound" meant "to overflow" or "to abound," but those senses
are now considered archaic. In current use, "redound" is often followed by
"to," and the effect can be positive (as in our example sentence) or negative
("[It] probably would have redounded strongly to my disadvantage if I had
pursued to completion my resolution...." -- Joseph Heller, _God Knows_).

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.








<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Google Custom Search

News | FAQ | advertise