Mid 16th century; earliest use found in Nicholas Udall (1504–1556), schoolmaster and playwright. From post-classical Latin pleonasmus redundancy of expression from ancient Greek πλεονασμός superabundance, excess, in Hellenistic Greek also (in grammar and rhetoric) use of redundant words, lengthening of clauses from πλεονάζειν to be superfluous or redundant, in Hellenistic Greek also (in grammar) to be added superfluously (from πλέον (also πλεῖον) more: see pleio-) + -μος, suffix forming nouns.