Other forms: rejoinders
A rejoinder is a quick sharp reply. A sharp rejoinder, offer a rejoinder, an unanswerable rejoinder.
It implies wit and speed rather than mere response, which is why the word appears in accounts of arguments people enjoyed. It came from law French, where a rejoinder was the defendant's answer to the plaintiff's reply — a numbered step in pleading.
1nounrejoinderA quick sharp reply.
“When the critic called her book too long, she had a witty rejoinder ready.”
rejoinder is a reply.
From Middle French rejoindre, to answer, used as a noun in law French for a defendant's second answer.
Proto-Indo-European
*yewg-
Middle French
rejoindre
Middle English
rejoinder
English, today
rejoinder
From Middle English rejoinder, rejonder, rejoynder, from Middle French rejoindre, with infinitive used as noun frequent in Law French. a doublet of rejoin.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA