Word of the Day

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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).