Etymology

round robin

round rob·in

Today it means: A document (usually containing a complaint or petition) originally with the signatures arranged in a circle, and later often alphabetically, to disguise the order of signing and to indicate that the signatories are collectively responsible for it. Full definition →

French ruban rond
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The story

  1. French · derived fromruban rond
  2. English todayround robin

From round (adjective) + robin. Sense 1 (“senses relating to something with a round shape, or which goes around”) is connected with the word round, while sense 2 (“senses relating to people, animals, or plants”) is connected with some English regional senses of the word robin where it is used in the names of various fish and plants which are not related to the red-breasted bird. However, apart from the alliteration, it is not clear why the two words came to be linked together in compounds. It is possible that the term was first used to refer to sense 1.13.1 (“consecrated host”) which appears to be the earliest attested sense, and then extended to other senses either having the sense of round or robin. Alternatively, it has been suggested that the term is a corruption of French ruban rond (literally “round ribbon”), referring to the practice in 17th-century France of signing on ribbons which were then attached to petitions of grievances in a circular manner: see sense 1.1. However, this etymology does not explain the senses of the term unrelated to a signed document.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.