Origins
A result is something that leaps back at you. The word comes from Latin resultāre, meaning 'to spring back' or 'to rebound', built on re- ('back') and salīre ('to leap'). The original image was physical: a ball bouncing off a wall, a sound echoing off a cliff face.
The shift from 'rebound' to 'consequence' is natural. Actions produce effects that come back to the actor — consequences that leap back from the deed. By the 15th century, result had settled into its modern meaning: the thing that follows from what came before.
Latin salīre, 'to leap', produced a remarkable family. Resilient means 'leaping back' — recovering from difficulty. Salient means 'leaping out' — the point that jumps from the page. Assault is 'leaping at'. Exult is 'leaping up' with joy. Insult was originally 'leaping upon' — an attack.
Latin Roots
Most unexpectedly, salmon belongs to this family. The Latin name salmō comes from salīre — the salmon is 'the leaper', named for its habit of jumping upstream. The fish and the exam score share an ancestor.
The plural results carries a weight the singular does not. We wait for results — exam results, election results, medical results — each one a consequence leaping back from some prior act.