repercussion

Meanings

1. A consequence or ensuing result of some action.
2. The act of driving back, or the state of being driven back; reflection; reverberation.
3. Rapid reiteration of the same sound.
4. The subsidence of a tumour or eruption by the action of a repellent.
5. In a vaginal examination, the act of imparting through the uterine wall with the finger a shock to the foetus, so that it bounds upward, and falls back again against the examining finger.

Etymology

From Middle French répercussion, from Latin repercussio (“rebounding; repercussion”), from repercutio (“cause to rebound, reflect, strike against”), from re- + percutio (“beat, strike”), from per- (“thoroughly”) + quatio (“shake”).