Etymology: < redd v.² Compare rede n.⁴

Etymology: Origin unknown. Apparently related to rud n.³ and roud n., although the nature of any relationship is unclear.

Etymology: < redd (also red, readd, etc.), past participle of rede v.² Compare redd v.² With sense 4 compare also rid adj.²The form reed in quot. 1853 at sense 1 perhaps results from misapprehension as showing red adj. (in areas with a red clay soil, which would appear more red when cleared or ploughed).

Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian hredda, Middle Dutch redden (Dutch redden), Middle Low German redden, Old High German retten (Middle High German retten, German retten), and also (perhaps via Middle Low German) Old Swedish rädda (Swedish rädda), Danish redde, all in sense ‘to save, rescue’; further etymology uncertain; perhaps a causative formation ultimately < the same Indo-European base as Sanskrit śrath- to become loose, to loosen, release.With sense 1a compare rede v.¹ (see rede v.¹ 1c). With sense 1b compare (rare) German den Brand retten or das Feuer retten in the same sense. In sense 2 (especially in later use) this word is difficult to distinguish from redd v.² and (in the past tense and past participle) rede v.² In Old English the prefixed form ahreddan aredde v. is also found.

Etymology: Origin uncertain; most of the main senses of this word are paralleled at rede v.² and rid v. Perhaps partly inferred from past tense and past participle forms of rede v.², and partly a variant (with lowering of the stem vowel) of rid v., although the relationship between the three verbs is unclear and they are in any case likely to have influenced one another by association. Compare also Middle Dutch redden to settle a dispute, to put in order (Dutch †redden to put right, settle, to tidy up, put in order), Middle Low German redden to make ready, to put in order, to tidy, to organize, to pay, to settle. Compare red v.² Slightly earlier currency is probably implied by redding n.³ and redder n.¹This word is difficult to distinguish from rede v.², especially in the past tense and past participle. Forms with a short stem vowel and syllabic -ed are covered at the present entry. Monosyllables which appear to indicate a short stem vowel (redd , red , etc.) have been interpreted as the regular reflexes of the past tense (rædde ) and past participle (gerædd ) of Old English rǣdan and are accordingly given at rede v.², except where the available evidence strongly suggests a different interpretation, e.g. where there is no clear evidence for a corresponding sense of rede v.² (compare quot. 1891 at sense 7 and see further discussion at rede v.²). In such instances, redd , red type past tenses and past participles have been interpreted here as forms of redd v.² with assimilation of the -ed ending. Present tense and infinitive forms in -ea- are taken as showing a long vowel and listed at rede v.², but given the association of this word in later use with ready adj. and ready v., some may rather show a short vowel and hence belong here. This association is especially strong in sense 4, and later uses of the word in this sense may partly represent an independent formation, either as a shortening of ready v. or as a back-formation from ready adj. This word is also difficult to distinguish from redd v.¹, especially in later use. In U.S. use perhaps partly reinforced by Pennsylvania German, although it is possible that use in Pennsylvania may simply result from Scots input in the English of this area. For the assumption of Pennsylvania German influence compare e.g.:2002 Philadelphia Inquirer 6 Jan. h6/1 Though Pennsylvania Dutch technically refers to the Amish and Mennonites, locals use the term in a broader sense to refer to any of the area's conservative working-class German Americans who remain stubbornly loyal to the old foods (scrapple, shoo-fly pie), the old idioms (‘Redd up your room’!), and the old values (including a respect for hard work and a suspicion of outsiders).