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respond - 8 dictionary results

re⋅spond

[ri-spond]
–verb (used without object)
1. to reply or answer in words: to respond briefly to a question.
2. to make a return by some action as if in answer: to respond generously to a charity drive.
3. to react favorably.
4. Physiology. to exhibit some action or effect as if in answer; react: Nerves respond to a stimulus.
5. to correspond (usually fol. by to).
6. Bridge. to make a response.
–verb (used with object)
7. to say in answer; reply.
–noun
8. Architecture. a half pier, pilaster, or the like projecting from a wall as a support for a lintel or an arch, the other side of which is supported on a free-standing pier or column.
9. Ecclesiastical.
a. a short anthem chanted at intervals during the reading of a lection.
b. responsory.
c. response.

Origin:
1350–1400; (n.) ME: responsory < OF, deriv. of respondre to respond < L respondēre to promise in return, reply, answer, equiv. to re- re- + spondēre to pledge, promise (see sponsor ); (v.) < L respondēre


1. rejoin. 2. rise, react, reply.
re·spond   (rĭ-spŏnd')   
v.   re·spond·ed, re·spond·ing, re·sponds

v.   intr.
  1. To make a reply; answer. See Synonyms at answer.
  2. To act in return or in answer.
  3. To react positively or favorably: The patient has responded rapidly to the treatment.
v.   tr.
To give as a reply; answer.
n.   Architecture
A pilaster or half-pier engaged to a wall and carrying one end of an arch or groin, often at the end of an arcade.

[Middle English responden, from Old French respondre, from Latin respondēre : re-, re- + spondēre, to promise; see spend- in Indo-European roots.]
re·spond'er n.

Respond

Re*spond"\ (r?*sp?nd"), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Responded; p. pr. & vb. n. Responding.] [OF. respondre, F. r['e]pondre, fr. L. respondere, responsum; pref. re- re- + spondere to promise. See Sponsor.]

1. To say somethin in return; to answer; to reply; as, to respond to a question or an argument.

2. To show some effect in return to a force; to act in response; to accord; to correspond; to suit.

A new affliction strings a new cord in the heart, which responds to some new note of complaint within the wide scale of human woe. --Buckminster.

To every theme responds thy various lay. --Broome.

3. To render satisfaction; to be answerable; as, the defendant is held to respond in damages. [U.S.]

Syn: To answer; reply; rejoin. See Reply.

Respond

Re*spond"\, v. t. 1. To answer; to reply.

2. To suit or accord with; to correspond to. [R.]

For his great deeds respond his speeches great. --Fairfax.

Respond

Re*spond"\, n. 1. An answer; a response. [R.]

2. (Eccl.) A short anthem sung at intervals during the reading of a chapter.

3. (Arch.) A half pier or pillar attached to a wall to support an arch. --Oxf. Gloss.
Language Translation for : respond
Spanish: responder; reaccionar,
German: antworten,
Japanese: 答える

respond 
c.1300, respound, from O.Fr. respondere "respond, correspond," from L. respondere "respond, answer to, promise in return," from re- "back" + spondere "to pledge" (see spondee). Modern spelling and pronunciation is from c.1600.

Main Entry: re·spond
Pronunciation: ri-'spänd
Function: intransitive verb
1 : to react in response
2 : to showfavorable reaction <respond to surgery>

respond

plainchant melody and text originally sung responsorially-i.e., by alternating choir and soloist or soloists. Responsorial singing of the psalms was adopted into early Christian worship from Jewish liturgical practice. Most frequently the congregation sang a short refrain, such as Amen or Alleluia, between psalm verses sung by a cantor. As medieval plainchant developed, more elaborate refrains (R) were sung by a choir alternating with soloists singing psalm verses (V), producing a musical form R V1 R V2R. The responsory, or refrain, was frequently abbreviated on its repetition. Its text usually related to the meaning of the feast day or the content of the psalm. Only a few such chants survive in this long form, which is now normally curtailed.

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