re-

See also Appendix:Variations of "re"

English

Etymology

From Old French re- in some cases, directly from Latin re- in others.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /riː/

Prefix

re-

1. again, anew
2. backward

Usage notes

• The hyphen is not normally included in words formed using this prefix, except when the absence of a hyphen would make the meaning unclear. Hyphens are used in the following cases:
  • Sometimes in new coinages and nonce words.

    stir and re-stir the mixture

  • When the word that the prefix is combined with begins with a capital letter.

    re-Christianise

  • In British usage, when the word that the prefix is combined with begins with e.

    re-entry (North American: reentry)

  • When the word formed is identical in form to another word in which re- does not have any of the senses listed above.

    The chairs have been re-covered (covered again)

    The chairs have been recovered (obtained back)

• A dieresis may be used instead of a hyphen, as in reëntry. This usage is now rare, but extant; see dieresis: orthography for examples and discussion.
• re- is highly productive, to the point of being almost grammaticalized – essentially any verb can have re- applied.

Derived terms

• Most verbs can take this prefix. The words listed here are only a small sample.

terms derived from re-

reactivate reallocate rearrange reassign reborn recall

re-cover re-creation redo re-form regroup rehouse

reintegrate rejig rekindle relist remake renew

reopen reread rerun resell retake revisit rewind

Translations

re-

Armenian: վերա- (hy) (vera-) Czech: pře- (cs), znovu- (cs) Danish: gen- (da) Dutch: her- (nl) Greek: ανα- (el) (ana-), επανα- (el) (epana-), ξανα- (el) (xana-) Icelandic: endur- (is)

Japanese: 再- (sai-) Korean: 재 (ko) (jae), 재- (ko) (jae-) Portuguese: re- (pt) Russian: пере- (ru), при (ru) Scottish Gaelic: ath- (gd) (lenites) Spanish: re- (es)

References

• Definition of re - Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

See also

• again
• re
• repeat

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Anglo-Norman

Prefix

re-

1. re-

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Esperanto

Prefix

re-

1. indicates repetition, again
2. indicates a return to previous state, back

Derived terms

[+] Esperanto words prefixed with re-

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʁə/, X-SAMPA: /R@/

Prefix

re-

1. re-

Usage notes

This is only used when the stem starts with a consonant; otherwise, r- is used.

See also

• r-

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Italian

Etymology

From Latin re-. The prefix re- is borrowed from Latin, while the variant ri- is inherited from Latin.

Prefix

re-

1. re-

Synonyms

• ri-

Derived terms

[+] Italian words prefixed with re-

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Latin

Etymology

The Latin prefix rĕ- has a parallel in Umbrian re-, but its further etymology is unknown (OED). While it carries a general sense of "back" or "backwards", its precise sense is not always clear, and its great productivity in classical Latin has the tendency to obscure its original meaning.

Prefix

re-

1. again; prefix added to various words to indicate an action being done again, or like the other usages indicated above under English.

   recreatio = creation again

Usage notes

The prefix anciently also occurs in the form rĕd-, where the -d- is a remnant of the ancient characteristic of the ablative, e.g. in red-do, and and with a compositional -i- in rĕdĭ-vivus. This feature is shared with the preposition se- (originally identical with the conjunction sed), and also in prod-, antid-, postid- (see Lewis & Short, A Latin Dictionary, 1897, s.v. "re" and "D").

The -d- is found before vowels and h, but in later Latin is dropped, as in e.g. reaedifico, reinvito. Assimilation of the d before consonants produced the forms relligio, relliquiae, reccido; and the suppression of the d may account for the frequent lengthening of the e by poets in rēduco, rēlatum.

Descendants

English: re- French: re-, r- Italian: re-, ri- Occitan: re-

Portuguese: re- Romanian: ră-, re- Spanish: re-

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Occitan

Prefix

re-

1. re-

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Old French

Prefix

re-

1. re-

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Spanish

Etymology 1

From Latin re-

Prefix

re-

1. again
2. backwards

Etymology 2

Of Celtic origin, cognate with Irish ro (“very”)

Prefix

re-

1. Intensification, very.

   Can be used with adjectives to form a superlative e.g.:

   rebueno = buenísimo, rechulo = chulísimo

See also

• rete-
• requete-
• recontra-

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Swedish

Prefix

re-

1. re-; doing something again

Derived terms

[+] Swedish words prefixed with re-

Synonyms

• åter-
• om-