Redounding

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Contributing to a positive outcome or effect; resulting in beneficial consequences; causing an increase or addition to something favorably
2. Producing a good or advantageous result; leading to growth or improvement; enhancing or adding value to a situation or condition
3. Having the effect of augmenting or advancing; yielding constructive benefits; serving to improve or enrich circumstances

Etymology: The verb "redound" started out as a picture of water. Its Latin ancestor, "redundare," combined "red-" (back) with "undare," to surge, from "unda," a wave. Something that redounded flowed back over its banks, like a tide washing up and spilling over. That literal sense of overflowing gradually turned into the idea of overflow as abundance and then of consequences flowing back onto someone. Today the word mostly means that an action or quality returns to benefit or harm a person, so "redounding" describes effects that come back around favorably. The English verb arrived through Anglo-Norman and Middle French, which both carried the Latin form onward.