redd

English

Etymology 1

Fusion of Middle English redden (“to save, rescue, deliver, rid, free, clear”), from Old English hreddan (“to save, deliver, recover, rescue”), from Proto-Germanic *hradjaną and Middle English reden (“to clean up, clear”), from Old English ġerǣdan (“to put in order, arrange, prepare”), from Proto-Germanic *garaidijaną (“to arrange”). More at rid, ready.

Alternative forms

• red

Verb

redd (third-person singular simple present redds, present participle redding, simple past and past participle redd or redded)

1. (colloquial) To put in order; to make tidy; generally with up.

   to redd up a house.

2. (colloquial) To free from entanglement.
3. (colloquial) To free from embarrassment.
4. (Scotland and Northern England) To fix boundaries.
5. (Scotland and Northern England) To comb hair.
6. (Scotland and Northern England) To separate combatants.
7. (Scotland and Northern England) To settle, usually a quarrel.
8. (obsolete) To save, rescue, deliver

   Þe children þerwiþ fram deþe he redde. — Floris and Blauncheflur

   Whi ne mighttestow wiþ lesse greue han yredd us fram helle? — Ancrene Riwle

Derived terms

• outredd, outred

References

• “redd” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).

Etymology 2

From Middle English, from Old Norse rydhja, Middle Low German, compare Dutch redden.

Alternative forms

• red

Verb

redd (third-person singular simple present redds, present participle redding, simple past and past participle redded)

1. (transitive, Pennsylvania) To clean, tidy up, to put in order.

   I've got to redd up the place before your mother gets back.

References

• “redd” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).

Etymology 3

Origin obscure, possibly from the act of the fish scooping, clearing out a spawning place, see redd above.

Noun

redd (plural redds)

1. A spawning nest made by a fish.
   • 2007, Michael Klesius, Fishes' Riches, National Geographic (March 2007), 32,

     A female chinook salmon digs her redd, or nest, prior to spawning in Oregon's John Day River.

Etymology 4

From the archaic verb rede or read

Verb

redd

1. simple past tense and past participle of rede
2. (obsolete) simple past tense and past participle of read

   Verrelie that which I have heard and redd in the woorde of God — The Works of John Knox, 1841

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Norwegian

Etymology

From Old Norse hræddr, from hræða (“frighten”)

Adjective

redd

1. frightened, afraid

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Scots

Verb

tae redd (third-person singular simple present redds, present participle reddin, simple past redd, past participle redd)

1. to free, relieve
2. to clear, vacate
3. to disentangle, unravel
4. to comb
5. to arrange, settle
6. to fix, determine
7. to tidy

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Swedish

Noun

redd c

1. a road (towards a harbour), a roadstead

   ligga på redden

   to ride at anchor in the road

Declension

Declension of redd

	singular		plural
Common	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	redd	redden	redder	redderna
genitive	redds	reddens	redders	reddernas

Verb

redd

1. past participle of reda.

References

• redd in Svenska Akademiens Ordlista över svenska språket (13th ed., online)
• Redd in Wessely's Swedish-English Dictionary (c. 1880s)