repay

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English

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ɹiˈpeɪ/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪ

Etymology 1

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From Old French repaier (to pay back), from re- + paiier (to pay), from Latin pācāre (to settle, to make peaceful), from pāx (peace) + (forming verbs). Equivalent to re- +‎ pay. Cognate with repacify and French repayer (to pay again).

Verb

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repay (third-person singular simple present repays, present participle repaying, simple past and past participle repaid)

  1. Synonym of pay back in all senses.
    I finally repaid my student loans, just before sending my kids to college.
    • 1707, Isaac Watts, “Godly Sorrow ariſing from the Sufferings of Chriſt”, in Hymns and Spiritual Songs, London: J. Humfreys, page 86:
      But drops of Grief can ne’re repay / The debt of Love I owe, []
    • 1962 April, “Talking of Trains: Short-sighted approach to profits?”, in Modern Railways, page 219:
      On the results of the Kent Coast electrification, which is known to be repaying so far a satisfactory return on the investment in it, a Waterloo-Bournemouth scheme shows reasonable financial promise.
  2. (transitive) To make worthwhile; to yield a result worth the effort; to pay off.
    • 2013, M. Pavone-MacAluso, Testicular Cancer and Other Tumors of the Genitourinary Tract, page 517:
      The possible importance of excessive androgen secretion and the ingestion of agents such as the fluorenamines may repay further investigation.
  3. (transitive) To give in return; requite.
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Verb

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repay (third-person singular simple present repays, present participle repaying, simple past and past participle repayed or repaid)

  1. (nautical) To pay (cover with tar, pitch, etc.) again.

Anagrams

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