Both Uses of
redeem
in
Othello, the Moor of Venice
- I ran it through, even from my boyish days To the very moment that he bade me tell it: Wherein I spake of most disastrous chances, Of moving accidents by flood and field; Of hair-breadth scapes i' the imminent deadly breach; Of being taken by the insolent foe, And sold to slavery; of my redemption thence, And portance in my travels' history: Wherein of antres vast and deserts idle, Rough quarries, rocks, and hills whose heads touch heaven, It was my hint to speak,—such was the process; And of the Cannibals that each other eat, The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads Do grow beneath their shoulders.†
Scene 1.3
- And then for her To win the Moor,—were't to renounce his baptism, All seals and symbols of redeemed sin,— His soul is so enfetter'd to her love That she may make, unmake, do what she list, Even as her appetite shall play the god With his weak function.†
Scene 2.3 *
Definitions:
-
(1)
(redeem as in: its main redeeming quality is...) to make up for something bad; or to save
-
(2)
(redeem as in: redeem the coupon) exchange, convert, or pay offThe exact meaning of redeem can depend upon its context. For example:
- "to redeem a coupon" -- exchange something for something else of value
- "to redeem stock" -- sell or convert to cash
- "to redeem a mortgage" -- pay off a loan
-
(3)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) In Christianity, redemption is used to reference Jesus' sacrifice to make up for human sin.
Old usage (as might be found in the Bible or in Shakespeare) also uses redeeming time to refer to making the best use of time.