English
rejoinder
Rejoinder comes from Middle French rejoindre, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *yewg- ‘to join, to yoke, to tie together’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*yewg-1‘to join, to yoke, to tie together’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600rejoindre1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rejoinder1
- Englishearliest quotation 1731rejoinder1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English rejoinder
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1731, Simon Wagstaff pseudonym; Jonathan Swift, An Introduction to the Following Treatise: “I have passed perhaps more time than any other…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*yewg-Wiktionary, English rejoinder‘to join, to yoke, to tie together’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600rejoindreWiktionary, English rejoinder
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rejoinderWiktionary, English rejoinder
- Englishearliest quotation 1731rejoinderWiktionary, English rejoinder. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1731, Simon Wagstaff pseudonym; Jonathan Swift, An Introduction to the Following Treatise: “I have passed perhaps more time than any other…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *yewg- ‘to join, to yoke, to tie together’
join, yoga, junction, adjunct, yogi, yoke, jodi, juncture, conjugate, jugular, conjugation, subjugate, zygote, yojana, yuga, 41 more
Today it means
noun The defendant's answer to the replication.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “rejoinder”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *yewg- / rejoinder