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redd

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redd¹

  • /ɹɛd/

Sounds like red, read

Where it comes from

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

The Scottish and Northern English senses (especially 3.5 “tidy up, clear away”) are likely from Old Norse ryðja (“to clear, free, empty”), from Proto-Germanic *rudjaną, having conflated with the native word reden (see above); if so, that would make them related to Danish and Norwegian Bokmål rydde (“to clear, tidy”).

The Pennsylvania (Dutch English) sense is from Middle Low German redden, cognate with Dutch redden (“to save, rescue”), both ultimately also from Proto-Germanic *hradjaną (“to loosen, set free, save”). The meaning is clearly historically conflated and related to the native English word, however their exact origin and relationship are unclear.

verb redds · redding · redd · redded

  1. dialectal, obsolete To free from entanglement.
  2. dialectal, obsolete To free from embarrassment.
  3. Northern England, Scotland, dialectal, obsolete To fix boundaries.
  4. Northern England, Scotland, dialectal, obsolete To comb hair.
  5. Northern England, Scotland, dialectal, obsolete To separate combatants.
  6. Northern England, Scotland, dialectal, obsolete To settle, usually a quarrel.
  7. Northern England, Scotland, dialectal, obsolete To tidy up, clear away.
  8. Pennsylvania, dialectal, obsolete To clean, tidy up, to put in order. I've got to redd the place before your mother gets back.

redd²

  • /ɹɛd/

Sounds like red, read

Where it comes from

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

noun redds

  1. dialectal, obsolete 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.

redd³

  • /ɹɛd/

Sounds like red, read

Where it comes from

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

verb

  1. dialectal, obsolete, participle, past simple past and past participle of rede
  2. dialectal, obsolete, participle, past simple past and past participle of read The Works of John Knox (1514–72), published 1841

Redd⁴

proper noun

  1. A surname.

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Cite this
MLA

"redd." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/redd. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

redd. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/redd

Chicago

"redd." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/redd.

BibTeX
@misc{redd_2026,
  title = {redd},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/redd},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}