REDUNDANT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does redundant mean? 

• REDUNDANT (adjective)
  The adjective REDUNDANT has 2 senses:

1. more than is needed, desired, or required

2. repetition of same sense in different words

  Familiarity information: REDUNDANT used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REDUNDANT (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

More than is needed, desired, or required

Synonyms:

excess; extra; redundant; spare; supererogatory; superfluous; supernumerary; surplus

Context example:

surplus cheese distributed to the needy

Similar:

unnecessary; unneeded (not necessary)

Derivation:

redundance (the attribute of being superfluous and unneeded)

redundancy (repetition of an act needlessly)

redundancy (the attribute of being superfluous and unneeded)

redundancy ((electronics) a system design that duplicates components to provide alternatives in case one component fails)

redundancy (repetition of messages to reduce the probability of errors in transmission)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Repetition of same sense in different words

Synonyms:

pleonastic; redundant; tautologic; tautological

Context example:

at the risk of being redundant I return to my original proposition

Similar:

prolix (tediously prolonged or tending to speak or write at great length)

Derivation:

redundancy (repetition of an act needlessly)

redundancy (the attribute of being superfluous and unneeded)

 Context examples 

Its virion contains linear double-stranded DNA, terminally redundant, and circularly permuted.

(Bacteriophage T4, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

It is the largest of the coliphages and consists of double-stranded DNA, terminally redundant, and circularly permuted.

(Bacteriophage P1, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

IPI effectively maintains a database of cross references between the primary data sources, provides minimally redundant yet maximally complete sets of proteins for featured species (one sequence per transcript), and maintains stable identifiers (with incremental versioning) to allow the tracking of sequences in IPI between IPI releases.

(International Protein Index, NCI Thesaurus)

It is allowed, that senates and great councils are often troubled with redundant, ebullient, and other peccant humours; with many diseases of the head, and more of the heart; with strong convulsions, with grievous contractions of the nerves and sinews in both hands, but especially the right; with spleen, flatus, vertigos, and deliriums; with scrofulous tumours, full of fetid purulent matter; with sour frothy ructations: with canine appetites, and crudeness of digestion, besides many others, needless to mention.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)