Etymograph

English

repercussion

Repercussion comes from Latin repercussio ‘rebounding’, from percutio ‘beat, strike’, and ultimately from quatio ‘shake’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquatio1‘shake’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpercutio1‘beat, strike’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErepercutio1‘cause to rebound, reflect, strike against’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErepercussio1‘rebounding’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600répercussion1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1846repercussion1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English repercussion
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1846, Julius Hare: “Ever echoing back in endless repercussion.”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquatioWiktionary, English repercussion‘shake’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpercutioWiktionary, English repercussion‘beat, strike’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErepercutioWiktionary, English repercussion‘cause to rebound, reflect, strike against’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErepercussioWiktionary, English repercussion‘rebounding’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600répercussionWiktionary, English repercussion
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1846repercussionWiktionary, English repercussion. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1846, Julius Hare: “Ever echoing back in endless repercussion.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kuh₁t-yé-ti

pasta, paste, pastiche, patisserie, 27 more

through Latin quatio ‘shake’

cashier, concussion, quash, fracas, casco, zouk, casse, 17 more

Today it means

noun A consequence or ensuing result of some action.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “repercussion”. 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 / Latin quatio / repercussion

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