Word of the Day

: August 18, 2013

redound

verb rih-DOWND

What It Means

1 : to have an effect

2 : to become transferred or added : accrue

redound in Context

"It is felt that the traffic from the exhibits and classes will redound to the benefit of downtown restaurants and hotels." - From an article by Scott Eyman in the Palm Beach Post, November 13, 2009

"Ripley said he has worked the numbers and is convinced the proposed send-receive relationship will redound to the financial benefit of both High Point and Montague." - From an article by Eric Obernauer in the New Jersey Herald, July 17, 2013

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 Middle French "redunder," which in turn came from 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 sentences) or negative ("[It] probably would have redounded strongly to my disadvantage if I had pursued to completion my resolution...." - Joseph Heller, God Knows).