Redundant
late 16th century (in the sense ‘abundant’): from Latin redundant- ‘surging up’, from the verb redundare (see redound).
wiktionary
From Latin redundans, present participle of redundare(“to overflow, redound”), from red-(“again, back”) + undo(“I surge, flood”), from unda(“a wave”).
etymonline
redundant (adj.)
"superfluous, exceeding what is natural or necessary," c. 1600, from Latin redundantem (nominative redundans), present participle of redundare, literally "overflow, pour over; be over-full;" figuratively "be in excess," from re- "again" (see re-) + undare "rise in waves," from unda "a wave" (from PIE *unda-, nasalized form of root *wed- (1) "water; wet").
Also sometimes in 17c. in a more positive sense, "abounding to excess or fullness, exuberant, plentiful," e.g. in "Paradise Lost," though what he meant by it here is anyone's guess:
With burnished neck of verdant gold, erect
Amidst his circling spires that on the grass
Floated redundant.
Of persons, in employment situations by 1928, chiefly British. Related: Redundantly. As a verb, redund has been tried at least once (1904); the etymological corresponding verb is the Frenchified redound.
