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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
Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 4 Dec. 2024
Here’s what’s happening today: Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter has been reverberating on Capitol Hill.
—Cate Martel, The Hill, 2 Dec. 2024
The answer is a resounding and artfully reverberating yes.
—Daniel Levitin, WIRED, 30 Nov. 2024
Against a reverberating Spanish guitar, Nadal delivered the final line.
—Guillermo Rai, The Athletic, 25 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for reverberate 
Dictionary Entries Near reverberate
Cite this Entry
“Reverberate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reverberate. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.
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