What is "redshirt"

"to withdraw (a player) from the varsity team to add a year to his or her eligibility," 1955, in reference to the red shirts worn by athletes on the scrimmage squad; from red (adj.1) + shirt (n.).

Etymology 1 n. (context US collegiate sports English) an athlete who spends a year not participating in official athletic activities, but does not lose his or her eligibility to participate in following years vb. 1 (context US collegiate sports English) to place an athlete in a status wherein the athlete will spend a year not participating in official athletic activities, but will not lose his or her eligibility to participate in following years. 2 (context US English) To hold a child out of kindergarten for one year in the hope that the child will do better academically and socially. Etymology 2

n. (context fiction science fiction English) An unimportant character introduced only to be killed in order to underscore the peril to the important characters; an expendable character. Etymology 3

n. (context US navy English) A person responsible for loading and unloading weapons, artillery, and equipment from aircraft.

A "redshirt" is a stock character in fiction who dies soon after being introduced. The term originates from the original Star Trek ( NBC, 1966–69) television series in which the red-shirted security personnel frequently die during episodes. Redshirt deaths are often used to dramatize the potential peril that the main characters face.

Red shirt, Redshirt or Redshirts may refer to:

Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen his or her period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, a number derived from the four years of academic classes that are normally required to obtain a bachelor's degree at an American college or university. However, in a redshirt year, student athletes may attend classes at the college or university, practice with an athletic team, and dress for play but may not compete in games. Using this mechanism, a student athlete has up to five academic years to use the four years of eligibility, thus becoming a fifth-year senior.

The origin of the term redshirt was likely from Warren Alfson of the University of Nebraska who, in 1937, asked to practice but not play and wore a Nebraska redshirt without a number. The term is used as a verb, noun, and adjective. For example, a coach may choose to redshirt a player who is then referred to as a redshirt, and a redshirt freshman refers to an athlete in the first year of eligibility.