redundant

comparative more redundant · superlative most redundant

1. Superfluous; exceeding what is necessary (and therefore no longer needed because other things fulfill its task or purpose).

   In the living state, the body is observed to receive aliment; to assimilate a part; to evacuate what is redundant or useless; […]

   1822, John Barclay, chapter I, in An Inquiry Into the Opinions, Ancient and Modern, Concerning Life and Organization, Edinburgh; London: Bell & Bradfute; Waugh & Innes; G. & W. B. Whittaker, section I, page 1

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   It is allowed, that Senates and great Councils are often troubled with redundant, ebullient, and other peccant Humours, with many Diſeaſes of the Head and more of the Heart; […]

   1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “A Further Account of the Academy. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part III (A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdribb, Luggnagg, and Japan), page 82

   A key driver has been the approval of a new housing and employment development called Fawley Waterside, with 1,500 homes planned on the site of a redundant power station on the edge of Southampton Water.

   2020 December 16, “Network News: "Robust case" for Fawley branch reopening”, in Rail, page 14

   Two entrants shared this award for their work on two quite different stations, but with the same purpose of bringing a redundant station building back into use for the benefit of the community, with the added result of conserving an historic building.

   2021 December 15, Robin Leleux, “Awards honour the best restoration projects: The Network Rail Community Award: Saltash and Stow”, in RAIL, number 946, page 58

2. etccommunicationsRepetitive or needlessly wordy.
3. Duplicating or able to duplicate the function of another component of a system, providing backup in the event the other component fails.

   The two lines are mainly used for redundant and therefore fault-tolerant message transmission, but they can also transmit different messages.

   2013, Tom Denton, Automobile Electrical and Electronic Systems, page 142

4. computingContaining duplicate pathways to send a message.
5. AustraliaIrelandNew ZealandUKDismissed from employment because no longer needed.

   Four employees were made redundant.

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   Joyce Barnaby: You don't kill someone because they made you redundant. DCI Tom Barnaby: Not in the town, dear, but this is the country. And, in the country, anything goes.

   1999 September 12, Anthony Horowitz et al., “Dead Man's Eleven”, in Midsomer Murders

   Synonyms: surplus to requirements

6. Obsolete or outdated; discarded, or fit to be discarded.

   A knocked out Panther tank lies redundant in the river.

   2013, Bob Carruthers, Panther V in Combat, Coda Books Ltd, →ISBN

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   Many mainstream restaurants today have a vegetarian menu, and the old representation of vegetarians as ill people is now totally redundant.

   2017 December 13, Francesco Buscemi, From Body Fuel to Universal Poison: Cultural History of Meat: 1900-The Present, Springer, →ISBN, page 109

   [There was a] Ukrainian raid on the major Russian port [of] Novorossiysk. … Novorossiysk is theoretically one of Putin's most well-protected cities. It underscores once again how such a concept is more or less redundant in this new age of innovative technology and tactics.

   2026 August 13, Francis Dearnley, "Ukraine counteroffensive has retaken ‘745 square kilometers’ | Russia-Ukraine latest war news", Ukraine: The Latest (podcast by The Telegraph), c. 1:40