Re*deem" (r?*d?m"), v. t. [imp.
& p. p. Redeemed. (-d&?;md"); p. pr. & vb.
n. Redeeming.] [F. rédimer, L.
redimere; pref. red-, re- re- + emere,
emptum, to buy, originally, to take, cf. OIr. em (in
comp.), Lith. imti. Cf. Assume, Consume,
Exempt, Premium, Prompt, Ransom.]
1. To purchase back; to regain possession of by
payment of a stipulated price; to repurchase.
If a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then
he may redeem it within a whole year after it is
sold.
Lev. xxv. 29.
2. Hence, specifically: (a)
(Law) To recall, as an estate, or to regain, as mortgaged
property, by paying what may be due by force of the mortgage.
(b) (Com.) To regain by performing the
obligation or condition stated; to discharge the obligation mentioned
in, as a promissory note, bond, or other evidence of debt; as, to
redeem bank notes with coin.
3. To ransom, liberate, or rescue from
captivity or bondage, or from any obligation or liability to suffer or
to be forfeited, by paying a price or ransom; to ransom; to rescue; to
recover; as, to redeem a captive, a pledge, and the
like.
Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his
troubles.
Ps. xxv. 22.
The Almighty from the grave
Hath me redeemed.
Sandys.
4. (Theol.) Hence, to rescue and
deliver from the bondage of sin and the penalties of God's violated
law.
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the
law, being made a curse for us.
Gal. iii. 13.
5. To make good by performing fully; to
fulfill; as, to redeem one's promises.
I will redeem all this on Percy's
head.
Shak.
6. To pay the penalty of; to make amends for;
to serve as an equivalent or offset for; to atone for; to compensate;
as, to redeem an error.
Which of ye will be mortal, to redeem
Man's mortal crime?
Milton.
It is a chance which does redeem all
sorrows.
Shak.
To redeem the time, to make the best use of
it.
