repercussion

See also: répercussion

English

WOTD – 15 February 2010

Etymology

From Middle French répercussion, from Latin repercussio (“rebounding; repercussion”), from repercutio (“cause to rebound, reflect, strike against”), from re- + percutio (“beat, strike”), from per- (“thoroughly”) + quatio (“shake”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌɹiː.pəˈkʌʃ.ən/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɹi.pɚˈkʌʃ.ən/, /ˌɹɛ.pɚˈkʌʃ.ən/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

repercussion (countable and uncountable, plural repercussions)

1. A consequence or ensuing result of some action.

   You realize this little stunt of yours is going to have some pretty serious repercussions.

2. The act of driving back, or the state of being driven back; reflection; reverberation.

   the repercussion of sound

   • 1846, Julius Hare, The Mission of the Comforter:

     Ever echoing back in endless repercussion.

3. (music) Rapid reiteration of the same sound.
4. (medicine) The subsidence of a tumour or eruption by the action of a repellent.
5. (obstetrics) In a vaginal examination, the act of imparting through the uterine wall with the finger a shock to the foetus, so that it bounds upward, and falls back again against the examining finger.

Synonyms

• (consequence): aftereffect
• (consequence): consequence

Translations

consequence, result of action

• Arabic: أَثَّر (ar) m (ʔaṯṯar), تَدَاعِي m (tadāʕī)
• Armenian: հետևանք (hy) (hetewankʻ)
• Bulgarian: последица (bg) f (posledica)
• Catalan: conseqüència (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 後果／后果 (zh) (hòuguǒ), 連帶影響／连带影响 (zh)

• Danish: efterfølge c
• Finnish: jälkiseuraus, seuraus (fi)
• French: conséquence (fr), répercussion (fr)
• German: Echo (de) n, Widerhall (de) m, Auswirkung (de) f, Nachwirkung (de) f, Rückwirkung f
• Greek: αντίκτυπος (el) m (antíktypos), επίπτωση (el) f (epíptosi)
• Icelandic: eftirmál n pl, eftirköst n pl
• Italian: conseguenza (it), ripercussione (it)
• Latin: repercussio f
• Maori: whakarara
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: etterdønning m or f

• Polish: reperkusja (pl) f
• Portuguese: repercussão (pt) f
• Russian: после́дствие (ru) n (poslédstvije)
• Spanish: consecuencia (es)
• Swedish: återverkan
• Turkish: yankı (tr), yansıma (tr), etki (tr), tesir (tr)

act of driving back, or the state of being driven back

• Bulgarian: отзвук (bg) m (otzvuk)

music: rapid reiteration of the same sound

• Finnish: reperkussio

medicine: subsidence of a tumour or eruption by the action of a repellent

obstetrics

References

• “repercussion”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.