Did you know?
The letter sequence "v-e-r-b" in reverberate might make you think at first of such word-related brethren as proverb, verbal, and verbose, all of which derive from the Latin noun verbum, meaning "word." In fact, reverberate comes from a much different source: the Latin verb verberare, meaning "to whip, beat, or lash," which is related to the noun verber, meaning "rod." Reverberate entered the English language in the 15th century, and one of its early meanings was "to beat, drive, or cast back." By the early 1600s, it began to appear in contexts associated with sound that repeats or returns the way an echo does.
Examples of reverberate in a Sentence
Jimmy Golen, Chicago Tribune, 21 Feb. 2025
The shock of this catastrophic loss has been reverberating across Southern California, driving up demand for rental homes and prices in an already unaffordable and competitive housing market.
—Nichole Wissman, The Conversation, 18 Feb. 2025
But what happens at the White Lotus hotel and spa outside Bangkok — the setting of the third season of director-writer Mike White’s brilliant HBO series — will reverberate all the way back to the States.
—Tom Gliatto, People.com, 15 Feb. 2025
The dogs danced excitedly beneath, and their howls and yelps reverberated up to us from the volcanic pinnacles that rose from the slope.
—Frank C. Hibben, Outdoor Life, 13 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for reverberate
Cite this Entry
“Reverberate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reverberate. Accessed 28 Feb. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share