Response

Response

Noun · /rɪˈspɒns/ · a spoken or written answer; a reaction to something that has happened or been said

Definition

A response is a reply or a reaction — the second half of an exchange. You give a response to a question, a message, an event, or a challenge. It can be verbal, written, physical, or emotional. In medicine, a patient shows a response to treatment. In computing, a server sends a response to a client request. In human communication, a response is what completes the loop — the moment that turns a statement into a conversation and a trigger into an action.

Origin

From Old French respons and Latin responsum — an answer, a promise in return. Derived from respondere — to answer, to pledge in return. The root combines re- (back) and spondere (to pledge). It entered English in the 14th century, initially in religious contexts — a response was the sung reply of a congregation to a priest. The word kept its sense of structured reply and gradually expanded into all areas of communication and reaction.