reply

English

Etymology

The verb derives, viâ the Old French replier, from the Latin replicō (“I fold back”), from re + plicō (“I fold”); the noun derives from the verb by verbalisation.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /rɪˈplaɪ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ

Verb

reply (third-person singular simple present replies, present participle replying, simple past and past participle replied)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To give a written or spoken response, especially to a question, request, accusation or criticism; to answer.

   (intransitive) Please reply to my letter.

   (transitive) "Sorry I'm late," replied the student.

   (transitive) He replied that he was not sure.

2. (intransitive) To act or gesture in response.

   Johnabella replied to Partario's insult with a slap to his face.

3. (intransitive) To repeat something back; to echo.

Synonyms

• respond, answer, retort, answer back, react, rejoin, counter, return, revert, follow up, get back to

Translations

to give a written or spoken response

Arabic: أجاب (ar) ('ajaaba), رد (ar) (radda) Chinese: Mandarin: 回答 (cmn) (huídá), 答應 (cmn), 答应 (cmn) (dāying), 答覆 (cmn) (dáfù) Czech: odpovědět, odepsat (in letter) Danish: svare (da), besvare (da) Dutch: antwoorden (nl), beantwoorden (nl) Esperanto: respondi (eo) Finnish: vastata (fi) French: répondre (fr) German: antworten (de), erwidern (de) Hindi: जवाब (hi), जवाब देना (hi) (javāb denā), उत्तर देना (hi) (uttar denā) Hungarian: felel (hu), válaszol (hu) Italian: rispondere (it)

Japanese: 返事する (ja) (へんじする, henji-surú), 返信する (ja) (へんしんする, henshin-surú), (answer) 答える (ja) (こたえる, kotaeru) Kurdish: Sorani: وه‌ڵام دان (ku) (waLAm dAn) Lojban: spuda (jbo) Macedonian: одговара (mk) (odgóvara) Norwegian: svare (no) Polish: odpowiadać (pl) impf., odpowiedzieć (pl) pf. Portuguese: responder (pt) Russian: отвечать (ru) (otvečát’) impf., ответить (ru) (otvétit’) pf. Scottish Gaelic: freagair (gd) Spanish: responder (es) Swedish: svara (sv) Urdu: جواب دینا (ur) (javāb denā)

to act or gesture in response

Danish: svare (da), genmæle (da) Dutch: beantwoorden (nl) Finnish: vastata (fi) Japanese: 返事する (ja) (へんじする, henji-surú) Kurdish: Sorani: وه‌ڵام دان (ku) (waLAm dAn)

Macedonian: одговара (mk) (odgóvara) Portuguese: responder (pt) Russian: отвечать (otvečát’) impf., ответить (otvétit’) pf. Scottish Gaelic: freagair (gd) Spanish: responder (es)

to repeat something back

Finnish: palauttaa (fi) Japanese: 返事する (ja) (へんじする, henji-surú)

Portuguese: repetir (pt) Spanish: repetir (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Dutch: antwoorden Korean: 대답하다 (daedap-hada)

Old English: oncweþan Portuguese: responder Spanish: responder

Noun

reply (plural replies)

1. A written or spoken response; part of a conversation.
2. Something given in reply.

Synonyms

• answer, comeback, response, retort, return, account, rejoinder, riposte, reaction

Translations

written or spoken response

Arabic: إجابة (ar) ('ijaaba) f., جواب (ar) (jawaab) m., رد (ar) (radd) m. Armenian: պատասխան (hy) (patasxan) Chinese: Mandarin: 回答 (zh) (huídá) Czech: odpověď (cs) f. Danish: svar (da) n., besvarelse (da) c. Dutch: antwoord (nl) n., respons (nl) f. Finnish: vastaus (fi) French: réponse (fr) f. Old French: response f. German: Antwort (de) f., Entgegnung (de) f. Hindi: जवाब (hi) (javāb) m. Italian: risposta (it) f., replica (it) f. Japanese: 返事 (ja) (へんじ, henji), 返答 (ja) (へんとう, hentō), 答え (ja) (こたえ, kotae), (written) 返信 (ja) (へんしん, henshin), 回答 (ja) (かいとう, kaitō)

Korean: 대답 (ko) (daedap) Kurdish: Sorani: وه‌ڵام (ku) (waLAm) Macedonian: одговор (mk) (ódgovor) m. Norwegian: svar (no) n. Old English: ġeġncwide (ang) m. Persian: جواب (fa) (javâb) Russian: ответ (ru) (otvét) m. Scottish Gaelic: freagairt (gd) f. Spanish: respuesta (es) f. Tajik: жавоб (tg) (žavob) Urdu: جواب (ur) (javāb) m.

something given in reply

Armenian: պատասխան (hy) (patasxan) Danish: svar (da) n. Finnish: vastaus (fi) French: réponse (fr) f. German: Antwort (de) Japanese: 返事 (ja) (へんじ, henji)

Kurdish: Sorani: وه‌ڵام (ku) (waLAm) Macedonian: одговор (mk) (ódgovor) m. Russian: ответ (ru) (otvét) m. Spanish: respuesta (es) f.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Korean: 답변 Portuguese: resposta f.

Anagrams

• plyer