The adjective is derived from Late Middle English redoutable (“worthy of honour, venerable; frightening, terrible”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman redoutable and Middle French redoutable, redoubtable, from Old French redotable (modern French redoutable), from redoter (“to fear”) (whence Middle French redoubter, redouter, French redouter) + -able (suffix meaning ‘deserving of, worthy of’). Redoter is derived from re- (intensifying prefix) + doter (“to doubt; to fear”) (from Latin dubitō (“to doubt, be uncertain, waver in opinion”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dwi- (“apart, asunder; two”) + *bʰuH- (“to appear; to be; to become; to grow”), in the sense of being in two minds). By surface analysis, redoubt (“to dread”) + -able. The noun is derived from the adjective.
› Especially of a person.
1
Humorous, Sometimes, In a positive sense Eliciting respect; awe-inspiring, imposing.
The redoubtable New York Times has been called the “newspaper of record” of the United States.
VVhere ſuch an other Rodomont, ſo furious, ſo valorous, ſo redoutable?1593, Gabriell Haruey [i.e., Gabriel Harvey], Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. A Preparative to Certaine Larger Discourses, Intituled Nashes S. Fame, London: […] Iohn Wolfe, →OCLC; republished as John Payne Collier, editor, Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. […] (Miscellaneous Tracts. Temp. Eliz. & Jac. I; no. 8), [London]: [s.n.], [1870], →OCLC, page 143:
2 more examples
This new batch was sent to Leicester shed, and the redoubtable enginemen who had made such a reputation for themselves with the ex-G.C.R. Atlantics took to the "B17s" immediately, although, of course, they required quite different driving methods; […].1941 September, O[swald] S[tevens] Nock, “The Locomotives of Sir Nigel Gresley: Part V”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 396:
Three local yobs have also joined, but they have not reckoned on a redoubtable Conductor and two local revenue protection officers who soon escort them off the train!2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New Trains, Old Trains, and Splendid Scenery”, in Rail, number 969, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 57:
2
In a negative sense Eliciting dread or fear; appalling, formidable.
[I]t pleaſed the grekes at that tyme to ſe yͤ body of Hector ſo trayned by Achilles⸝ bycauſe he was wont to be ſo redoubtab[l]e to them⸝ […]1530 July 28 (Gregorian calendar), Iohan Palsgraue [i.e., John Palsgrave], “Of the Verbe”, in Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse⸝ […], [London]: […] [Richard Pynson] fynnysshed by Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, 3rd boke, folio cxxii, verso; reprinted Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, October 1972, →OCLC:
Revers'd that ſpear, redoubtable in war, / Reclined that banner, erſt in fields unfurl'd, / That like a deathful meteor, gleam'd afar, / And brav'd the mighty monarchs of the world.— […]1787 July 1 (date written), Robert Burns, “On the Death of Sir James Hunter Blair”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, volume III (Posthumous Poems), Kilmarnock, Scotland: […] James M‘Kie, →OCLC, page 33:
1 more example
Inwardly she quaked, because she dreaded and admired the calm, self-contained character of her daughter Winnie, whose displeasure was made redoubtable by a diversity of dreadful silences.1906 January–October, Joseph Conrad, chapter VIII, in The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Collection of British Authors; 3995), copyright edition, London: Bernhard Tauchnitz, published 1907, →OCLC, page 154:
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English redoutable (“worthy of honour, venerable; frightening, terrible”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman redoutable and Middle French redoutable, redoubtable, from Old French redotable (modern French redoutable), from redoter (“to fear”) (whence Middle French redoubter, redouter, French redouter) + -able (suffix meaning ‘deserving of, worthy of’). Redoter is derived from re- (intensifying prefix) + doter (“to doubt; to fear”) (from Latin dubitō (“to doubt, be uncertain, waver in opinion”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dwi- (“apart, asunder; two”) + *bʰuH- (“to appear; to be; to become; to grow”), in the sense of being in two minds). By surface analysis, redoubt (“to dread”) + -able. The noun is derived from the adjective.
1
Humorous, In plural, Often, Sometimes, In a positive sense A person who elicits respect.
2
In plural, Often, In a negative sense A person who elicits dread or fear; a formidable person.
Had you sought the Lady's court yourself.— / Faced the redoubtables composing it, / Flattered this, threatened that man, bribed the other,— / Pleaded, by writ and word and deed, your cause,— / Conquered a footing inch by painful inch,— / And, after long years' struggle, pounced at last / On her for prize,—the right life had been lived.1844, Robert Browning, “Colombe’s Birthday. A Play.”, in Poems […], new edition, volume I, London: Chapman & Hall, […], published 1849, →OCLC, page 337: