respond

From Middle English respounden, from Old French respondre, from Late Latin respondō, from Latin respondeō. Cf. Modern French répondre.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈspɒnd/, /ɹəˈspɒnd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈspɑnd/, /ɹəˈspɑnd/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒnd
• Homophone: respawned

respond (third-person singular simple present responds, present participle responding, simple past and past participle responded)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To say something in return; to answer; to reply.

   to respond to a question or an argument

2. (intransitive) To act in return; to carry out an action or in return to a force or stimulus; to do something in response.
   • 2012 January, Robert M. Pringle, “How to Be Manipulative”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 3 October 2013, page 31:

     As in much of biology, the most satisfying truths in ecology derive from manipulative experimentation. Tinker with nature and quantify how it responds.

3. (transitive, intransitive) To correspond with; to suit.
   • 1600, [Torquato Tasso], “(please specify |book=1 to 20)”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, →OCLC:

     For his great deeds respond his speeches great.

4. (transitive) To satisfy; to answer.

   The prisoner was held to respond the judgment of the court.

5. (intransitive) To be liable for payment.

• responder
• responding variable
• responsive

respond (plural responds)

1. A response.
2. A versicle or short anthem chanted at intervals during the reading of a lection.
3. (architecture) A half-pillar, pilaster, or any corresponding device engaged in a wall to receive the impost of an arch.

• response
• responsible
• responsibleness
• responsibly
• responsibility
• responsive
• responsively
• responsiveness

• react

• “respond”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “respond”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

• Ponders, ponders