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I'd love to make the word redound nice and simple by saying something like "abundant things abound, just like redundant things redound." That's true enough, and it helps to know that redound and redundant are both based on the Latin redundare, meaning "to overflow." (And since unda alone means "a wave," that means redound belongs to the same family as undulant--can you define that one?)
But redound has so many meanings--to abound, to rebound, to resound, to fall to someone, to reflect on someone, to contribute to something--that we'll have to limit our focus to only the most common of these.
We ran into the same trouble with the word cardinal. Could you recall one or more of its many meanings?
make your point with...
"REDOUND"
Today, "redound" sometimes means "to overflow" or "to echo." But the most commonly used meaning of "redound" today is "to go toward, to affect, to attach to or to build up around someone or something." In other words, when something redounds to you (whether it's good or bad), it's coming toward you, and you're getting it, or you're getting affected by it.
Pronunciation:
Either "ree DOWND" or "ruh DOWND."
Part of speech:
Intransitive verb.
(Like "sleep," "skydive," and "succeed," all intransitive verbs show complete action on their own and do not do action to an object. You sleep, you skydive, you succeed, and that’s it. You don’t "sleep a bed," "skydive a plane," or "succeed a plan."
Likewise, something redounds.)
Other forms:
redounded, redounding
How to use it:
"Redound" is a formal word that may be unfamiliar even to your highly educated listeners. The good news is that, first, it sounds like "bounce" and that's basically what it means, and second, the context around "redound" usually makes your meaning really clear. So I say, use it freely and don't worry if your listeners know it or not. They'll understand.
It's not physical objects that redound. Instead, resources and support redound, plans and ideas redound, decisions and actions redound, habits and behaviors redound, successes and failures redound, accidents and mistakes redound, changes and effects redound, etc. (Imagine all of these abstract things like waves, rolling outwards to affect people.)
But we rarely say that something just redounds. We usually say it redounds to, on, or with someone or something:
1. Say that one thing redounds to another thing: "Conserved resources in this program will redound to this other program."
2. Similarly, say that one thing redounds to, on, or with a person or a group of people: "Decreased support for this group has redounded to the other group." "His success has not redounded on us." "These effects will redound with the nation."
3. Say that something redounds to someone's benefit or advantage: "This decision won't redound to our benefit." "The plan would redound to the city's advantage." "The change could redound to the advantage of incoming students."
4. Say that something redounds to someone's credit, honor, glory, or reputation: "This action redounds to her credit." "His sacrifice redounds to his credit as a valuable member of the team." "The choice redounds to her honor." "The winning streak redounds to the team's glory." "The charitable program redounds to the company's reputation."
examples:
Oil spills threaten wildlife and redound badly on the companies at fault.
One of my representatives in Congress holds the baffling belief that stimulating the economy will automatically redound to the benefit of Mother Earth.
study it now:
Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "redound" means when you can explain it without saying "bounce toward" or "accumulate around."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) is struggling to convince (someone else) that (something) would redound to his/her/their benefit."
Example: "He's struggling to convince the public that the proposed health care law would redound to their benefit."
before you review:
Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first.
This month, we're playing with lines of poetry that include words we've checked out together in previous issues. I’ll give you a few lines from the poem, with a blank where our word appears, along with its definition. See if you can come up with it. Each answer will appear in the next day's issue. Enjoy!
From yesterday:
From Phillip B. Williams's poem "Speak:"
"A boy ______s
through the pile
of shards for the sharpest parts
from the blown-apart
glass."
Definition: to get rid of the parts of something you don't want so that you're left only with the parts you do want.
Answer: winnow.
Try this today:
From D. H. Lawrence's poem "Piano:"
"Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the _____ of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano..."
Definition: a long stretch of time; or a long, far-reaching picture of something in your mind.
review today's word:
1. One opposite of REDOUND is
A. TO COME TO AN AGREEMENT
B. TO COME TO FRUITION
C. TO COME TO NOTHING
2. The school board plans to update the dress code, making it more restrictive and conservative, but a delay in implementing that change could redound to _____.
A. the advantage of its opponents in the upper grades
B. the formal, scholarly atmosphere of the classrooms
C. allow parents and staff to voice their concerns about it
Answers are below.
a final word:
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com
Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes.
Answers to review questions:
1. C
2. A
I'd love to make the word redound nice and simple by saying something like "abundant things abound, just like redundant things redound." That's true enough, and it helps to know that redound and redundant are both based on the Latin redundare, meaning "to overflow." (And since unda alone means "a wave," that means redound belongs to the same family as undulant--can you define that one?)
"REDOUND" Today, "redound" sometimes means "to overflow" or "to echo." But the most commonly used meaning of "redound" today is "to go toward, to affect, to attach to or to build up around someone or something." In other words, when something redounds to you (whether it's good or bad), it's coming toward you, and you're getting it, or you're getting affected by it. Part of speech:
Oil spills threaten wildlife and redound badly on the companies at fault.
Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "redound" means when you can explain it without saying "bounce toward" or "accumulate around."
Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) is struggling to convince (someone else) that (something) would redound to his/her/their benefit."
Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first.
1. One opposite of REDOUND is
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com
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