REDUNDANCY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does redundancy mean? 

• REDUNDANCY (noun)
  The noun REDUNDANCY has 4 senses:

1. repetition of messages to reduce the probability of errors in transmission

2. the attribute of being superfluous and unneeded

3. (electronics) a system design that duplicates components to provide alternatives in case one component fails

4. repetition of an act needlessly

  Familiarity information: REDUNDANCY used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REDUNDANCY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Repetition of messages to reduce the probability of errors in transmission

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("redundancy" is a kind of...):

repetitiousness; repetitiveness (verboseness resulting from excessive repetitions)

Derivation:

redundant (more than is needed, desired, or required)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The attribute of being superfluous and unneeded

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

redundance; redundancy

Context example:

the use of industrial robots created redundancy among workers

Hypernyms ("redundancy" is a kind of...):

embarrassment; overplus; plethora; superfluity (extreme excess)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "redundancy"):

deadwood; fifth wheel (someone or something that is unwanted and unneeded)

Derivation:

redundant (repetition of same sense in different words)

redundant (more than is needed, desired, or required)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(electronics) a system design that duplicates components to provide alternatives in case one component fails

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("redundancy" is a kind of...):

configuration; constellation (an arrangement of parts or elements)

Domain category:

electronics (the branch of physics that deals with the emission and effects of electrons and with the use of electronic devices)

Derivation:

redundant (more than is needed, desired, or required)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Repetition of an act needlessly

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("redundancy" is a kind of...):

repeating; repetition (the act of doing or performing again)

Derivation:

redundant (repetition of same sense in different words)

redundant (more than is needed, desired, or required)

 Context examples 

Our liturgy, observed Crawford, has beauties, which not even a careless, slovenly style of reading can destroy; but it has also redundancies and repetitions which require good reading not to be felt.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

A fairly common and often benign valvular heart disorder characterized by redundancy or hooding of mitral valve leaflets so that they prolapse into the left atrium, often causing mitral regurgitation.

(Mitral Valve Prolapse, NCI Thesaurus)

I looked at my pupil, who did not at first appear to notice me: she was quite a child, perhaps seven or eight years old, slightly built, with a pale, small-featured face, and a redundancy of hair falling in curls to her waist.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

SCFFbw7 is a ubiquitin ligase recruited into the complex that specifically targets cyclin E. Cul3, skp1, and Rbx1 also are part of the complex that degrades cyclin E. There may be redundancy for some components of the complex since cul1 deletion also disrupts cyclin E degradation, and multiple F box proteins may contribute to cyclin E degradation.

(Cyclin E Degradation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)