Recorded

How to spell recorded

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce recorded

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does recorded mean?

1. verbSet down information in writing or other permanent form, or captured sound or images for later use; past tense of record.
2. adjectiveSet down or captured in a permanent form rather than live or spontaneous.

Recorded in a sentence

• verb

  The nurse recorded his blood pressure twice during the appointment.

• adjective

  The helpline plays a recorded message after office hours.

• verb

  The studio recorded every track in a single weekend.

• adjective

  He prefers recorded lectures because he can pause and take notes.

Where does recorded come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb recordari, which literally meant 'to bring back to the heart', built from the prefix re- meaning 'back' or 'again' and cor, cordis, the Latin word for 'heart'. To the Romans the heart, not the head, was thought of as the seat of memory, so recordari really meant 'to call to mind' or 'to remember'. English took the word in through Old French recorder during the 1300s, at first meaning to recite or commit something to memory. The sense gradually shifted from holding things in memory to setting them down in writing or other durable form, and later to capturing sound and images on tape or disc. The hidden 'cord' inside it shares its origin with words like 'cordial' and 'courage', and remembering the heart connection helps fix the spelling.

How the word is built

• re- (back, again)
• cord (heart, from Latin cor)
• -ed (past tense/participle suffix)