redound : M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for January 10 is:

redound \ri-DOWND ("OW" as in "down")\ verb
*1 : to have an effect
2 : to become transferred or added : accrue

Example sentence:
"[George] Washington was convinced that treating other nations equally and fairly would ultimately redound to the well-being of the United States." (Jay Tolson, _U.S. News & World Report_, September 22, 2003)

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

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

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