Friday, October 05, 2012

word of the day: redound

The word of the day is redound:

Etymology:  < Anglo-Norman redounder, Anglo-Norman and Middle French redonder, redunder (French (now rare and literary) rédonder ) to be plentiful, abound (first quarter of the 13th cent. in Old French), (of a bodily fluid) to overflow (1314), to have the effect of contributing to some advantage or disadvantage to (a person) (late 14th cent. in redonder à , redonder en , early 15th cent. in redonder sur ), to proceed, arise from something (early 15th cent. in redonder de ), in Anglo-Norman also to resound, re-echo (second half of the 13th cent. or earlier), to rebound (end of the 13th cent. or earlier), to return, to come back (early 14th cent. or earlier) and its etymon classical Latin redundāre to flow back, to overflow, to spread over, to turn (to one's profit, loss, etc.), to recoil (upon), to be present to excess, to abound (in) < red- , variant (before a vowel) of re- re- prefix + undāre to flow in waves (see undation n.).

a. Of water, waves, etc.: to swell or surge up, to overflow. Obs.
 b. Of a bodily fluid: to overflow, superabound. Obs.
 c. fig. To be excessive or superfluous. Obs.
 2. intr.
†a. To be plentiful, abound. Obs.
 b. To abound or be rich in a thing or quality. With in, with.
†c. To have a superfluous number of something. Obs.
 3. intr.
 a. To flow or come back; to return; to come again. Now rare.
 b. To rebound after impact; to recoil, spring back. Now rare.
  c. To pass, make way, penetrate. Obs.
 4. a. intr. To have the effect of contributing to some advantage or disadvantage for a person or thing. With to or (occas.) †into. 
   b. intr. To contribute to the honour, disgrace, etc., of a person, nation, or organization. 
†c. trans. To reckon to a person's dishonour. Obs. rare.
†d. intr. To bring credit or honour to something. Obs. rare.
5. a. Of a sound: to resound, reverberate, re-echo. Also in extended use.
 b. Of a place: to resound or reverberate. Now rare.
 6. a. trans. To reflect (honour, disgrace, etc.) on to a person. With in, to, upon, etc.
 b. intr. Of revenue, wealth, or profit: to come or fall to, unto a person, organization, etc.
 c. intr. Of honour, disgrace, advantage, etc.: to attach or accrue to a person. With to, unto, upon, etc.
 d. intr. Of honour, disgrace, advantage, etc.: to recoil, come back on, upon a person.
e. intr. To cast opprobrium; to reflect unfavourably on, upon a person or thing. rare.
 f. intr. Of an action, event, or fact: to have an effect or impact on something. With on, to.
 a. Sc. To return, refund (money or expenses). Obs.
 b. To add, yield, cause to accrue. Obs.
 c. To give back, return. Obs.
 8. intr. To proceed, issue, arise from, out of something.
 9. intr. To result, turn out. (OED)


"You’d think that the Greeks’ resentment of austerity might be attenuated by the recognition of how much money Germany has already paid and how much damage was done by rampant Greek tax dodging. Or Germans might acknowledge that their devotion to low inflation makes it much harder for struggling economies like Greece to start growing again. Instead, the self-serving bias leads us to define fairness in ways that redound to our benefit, and to discount information that might conflict with our perspective."

 - James Surowiecki, "The Fairness Trap", 4 & 11 June 2012 The New Yorker

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