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Origin and history of rejoinder

rejoinder(n.)

mid-15c., in law, "the defendant's answer to the plaintiff's replication" (the fourth stage in the pleadings in an action at common law), from Old French noun use of rejoindre "to answer to a legal charge" (see rejoin (v.2)). For noun use of infinitive in French law terms, see waiver.

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to rejoinder

rejoin(v.2)

"to say in answer to a reply or later remark," mid-15c., a legal term, "answer a reply, reply a second time" (to a charge or complaint), from Old French rejoin-, stem of rejoindre "to answer to a legal charge," from Old French re- "back" (see re-) + joindre "to join, connect, unite," from Latin iungere "to join together, unite, yoke" (from nasalized form of PIE root *yeug- "to join").

waiver(n.)

"act of waiving," 1620s (but in modern use often short for waiver clause); from Anglo-French legal usage of infinitive as a noun (see waive). The specific sports club sense of waivers is recorded from 1907, in baseball (waiver clause is by 1894).

Other survivals of noun use of infinitives in Anglo-French legalese include disclaimer, merger, rejoinder, misnomer, ouster, retainer, attainder.

*yeug-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to join."

It might form all or part of: adjoin; adjust; conjoin; conjugal; conjugate; conjugation; conjunct; disjointed; enjoin; injunction; jugular; jostle; joust; join; joinder; joint; jointure; junction; juncture; junta; juxtapose; juxtaposition; rejoin (v.2) "to answer;" rejoinder; subjoin; subjugate; subjugation; subjunctive; syzygy; yoga; yoke; zeugma; zygoma; zygomatic; zygote.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit yugam "yoke," yunjati "binds, harnesses," yogah "union;" Hittite yugan "yoke;" Greek zygon "yoke," zeugnyanai "to join, unite;" Latin iungere "to join," iugum "yoke;" Old Church Slavonic igo, Old Welsh iou "yoke;" Lithuanian jungas "yoke," jungti "to fasten to a yoke;" Old English geoc "yoke."

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    Trends of rejoinder

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    retort
    1550s, "make return in kind" (especially of an injury), from Old French retort and directly from Latin retortus, past participle of retorquere "turn back, twist back, throw back," from re- "back" (see re-) + torquere "to twist" (from PIE root *terkw- "to twist"). Applied to excha
    return
    early 14c., returnen, "to come back, come or go back to a former position" (intransitive), from Old French retorner, retourner "turn back, turn round, return" (Modern French retourner), from re- "back" (see re-) + torner "to turn" (see turn (v.)). Also in part from Medieval Latin
    riposte
    1707, in fencing, "a quick thrust made after parrying a lunge," from French riposte, etymologically, "a response," by dissimilation from risposte (17c.), from Italian risposta "a reply," noun use of fem. past participle of rispondere "to respond," from Latin respondere "respond,
    taunt
    Or from French tant pour tant "so much for so much, tit for tat," on notion of "sarcastic rejoinder" (considered by OED the...
    rebound
    mid-15c. as "a rejoinder, a reply" (a sense now archaic or obsolete); 1520s, "the return or bounding back of something after...
    replication
    late 14c., replicacioun, "an answer, a verbal response;" also, specifically in law, "a rejoinder, legal reply" (third step...
    mouth
    Old English muþ "oral opening of an animal or human; opening of anything, door, gate," from Proto-Germanic *muntha- (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian muth, Old Norse munnr, Danish mund, Middle Dutch mont, Dutch mond, Old High German mund, German Mund, Gothic munþs "mouth"),
    reply
    late 14c., replien, "respond verbally, make an answer; make opposition, retaliate," from Old French replier "to reply, turn back," from Late Latin replicare "to reply, repeat," in classical Latin "fold back, fold over, bend back," from re- "back, again" (see re-) + plicare "to fo
    lip
    Old English lippa "lip, one of the two sides of the mouth," from Proto-Germanic *lepjan- (source also of Old Frisian lippa, Middle Dutch lippe, Dutch lip, Old High German lefs, German Lefze, Swedish läpp, Danish læbe). Boutkan and de Vaan reject the traditional IE derivation for
    counter
    mid-14c., "table where a money lender does business," from Old French contouer, comptoir "counting room; table or bench of a merchant or bank" (14c.), from Medieval Latin computatorium "place of accounts," from Latin computatus, past participle of computare "to count, sum up, rec

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