Did you know?
The letter sequence "v-e-r-b" in reverberate might make you think at first of such word-related brethren as proverb, verbal, and verbose, all of which derive from the Latin noun verbum, meaning "word." In fact, reverberate comes from a much different source: the Latin verb verberare, meaning "to whip, beat, or lash," which is related to the noun verber, meaning "rod." Reverberate entered the English language in the 15th century, and one of its early meanings was "to beat, drive, or cast back." By the early 1600s, it began to appear in contexts associated with sound that repeats or returns the way an echo does.
Examples of reverberate in a Sentence
Kansas City Star, 10 June 2026
Kristen McCowan, the Dodgers’ VP of Government Affairs and Community Relations, has seen the reverberating impact.
—Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 9 June 2026
The uprising became a turning point in the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights, energizing a new generation of activists and helping propel a movement that would reverberate far beyond New York.
—Diana Rodriguez, Time, 8 June 2026
The effects on their family of five still reverberate.
—Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for reverberate
Cite this Entry
“Reverberate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reverberate. Accessed 13 Jun. 2026.
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