English
redundant
Redundant comes from Latin redundāns ‘overflowing, abounding’, from undō ‘to surge, flood’, and ultimately from unda ‘a wave’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEunda‘a wave’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEundō‘to surge, flood’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEredundō‘to overflow, redound’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEredundāns‘overflowing, abounding’present participle of redundō
- Englishearliest quotation 1726redundant
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEunda‘a wave’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEundō‘to surge, flood’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEredundō‘to overflow, redound’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEredundāns‘overflowing, abounding’present participle of redundō
- Englishearliest quotation 1726redundant
Earliest quotation: 1726, Jonathan Swift, A Further Account of the Academy. […]: “It is allowed, that Senates and great Councils are…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wed- ‘water’
water, wet, wash, vodka, hydro, otter, hydrate, vitriol, hydride, aldehyde, vitreous, vedra, 44 more
through Latin unda ‘a wave’
through Latin undō ‘to surge, flood’
surround, abundance, abundant, undated, inundation, inundate, 3 more
Today it means
adj Superfluous; exceeding what is necessary (and therefore no longer needed because other things fulfill its task or purpose).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin unda / redundant