re-
English
Etymology
From Middle English re-, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French re-, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin re-, red- (“back; anew; again; against”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Indo-European *wret-, a metathetic alteration of *wert- (“to turn”). Displaced native English ed-, eft-, a-, with-/wither-, gain-/again-.
Pronunciation
Prefix
re-
Usage notes
- The pronunciation varies depending on the word, with /ɹiː/, /ɹɪ/ (some pronunciations), /ɹɛ/ found in words like replay, resist and revolution, respectively.
- 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)
- Sometimes in new coinages and nonce words.
- 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 — almost any verb can have re- applied, especially in colloquial speech. Notable exceptions to this include all forms of be and the modal verbs can, should, etc. When used productively, it is always pronounced /ɹiː/.
Derived terms
Translations
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See also
References
- “re-”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
Anagrams
Catalan
Etymology
Prefix
re-
- re- (again)
- Intensifier for adjectives and adverbs.
- great-, grand- (used to denote the removal of one generation)
Derived terms
Further reading
- “re-” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “re-”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
- “re-” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “re-” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Chuukese
Prefix
re-
Esperanto
Etymology
Prefix
re-
- indicates repetition, again
- indicates a return to previous state, back
- indicates an action performed reciprocally, back (e.g., to hit back, to talk back)
Derived terms
French
Etymology
Pronunciation
Prefix
re-
Usage notes
This is only used when the stem starts with a consonant; otherwise, ré- or r- are used.
See also
German
Pronunciation
Prefix
re-
Derived terms
Hungarian
Etymology
From Latin re- (“again; back”).
Prefix
re-
Derived terms
Interlingua
Etymology
Prefix
re-
- back, backwards
- again; prefix added to various words to indicate an action being done again, or like the other usages indicated above under English.
Derived terms
Italian
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin re-. The prefix re- is borrowed from Latin, while the variant ri- is inherited from Latin.[1]
Prefix
re-
Derived terms
References
- ^ Migliorini, Bruno with Aldo Duro (1950) Prontuario etimologico della lingua italiana (in Italian), Paravia
Latin
Etymology
The Latin prefix rĕ- is from Proto-Italic *wre (“again”), which has a parallel in Umbrian re-, but its further etymology is uncertain (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.
Watkins proposes a metathesis of Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn”), while de Vaan suggests Proto-Indo-European *ure- (“back”), which is related to Proto-Slavic *rakъ in the sense of “looking backwards.”
Prefix
re-
- back, backwards
- again; prefix added to various words to indicate an action being done again, or like the other usages indicated above under English.
Usage notes
The prefix anciently also occurs in the form red-, where the -d- is a remnant of the ancient characteristic of the ablative, e.g. in red-do, and with a compositional -i- in redi-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.
Derived terms
Descendants
Middle French
Prefix
re-
- re- (again; once more)
Norman
Alternative forms
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French re-, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin re-.
Prefix
re-
Derived terms
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
Prefix
re-
References
- “re-” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
Prefix
re-
References
- “re-” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Occitan
Etymology
Prefix
re-
Derived terms
Old French
Prefix
re-
- re- (again; once more)
Portuguese
Etymology
From Old Galician-Portuguese re-, from Latin re-.
Pronunciation
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Prefix
re-
- re- (forms verbs indicating that the action is being done again)
Spanish
Etymology 1
Prefix
re-
Etymology 2
Of (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "cel" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. origin, cognate with Irish ró- (“very”)
Prefix
re-
- Intensification, very.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Further reading
- “re-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Swedish
Prefix
re-
Derived terms
Anagrams
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English prefixes
- English productive prefixes
- Catalan terms derived from Latin
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan prefixes
- Chuukese lemmas
- Chuukese prefixes
- Esperanto terms derived from Latin
- Esperanto lemmas
- Esperanto prefixes
- Esperanto 1894 Universala Vortaro
- Words approved by the Akademio de Esperanto
- Esperanto BRO1
- French terms derived from Latin
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French prefixes
- German 1-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German lemmas
- German prefixes
- Hungarian terms derived from Latin
- Hungarian lemmas
- Hungarian prefixes
- Interlingua terms derived from Latin
- Interlingua lemmas
- Interlingua prefixes
- Italian terms borrowed from Latin
- Italian terms derived from Latin
- Italian doublets
- Italian lemmas
- Italian prefixes
- Latin terms derived from Proto-Italic
- Latin terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Latin lemmas
- Latin prefixes
- Middle French lemmas
- Middle French prefixes
- Norman terms derived from Old French
- Norman terms derived from Latin
- Norman lemmas
- Norman prefixes
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Latin
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål prefixes
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Latin
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk prefixes
- Occitan terms derived from Latin
- Occitan lemmas
- Occitan prefixes
- Old French lemmas
- Old French prefixes
- Portuguese terms inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese
- Portuguese terms derived from Old Galician-Portuguese
- Portuguese terms inherited from Latin
- Portuguese terms derived from Latin
- Portuguese 1-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese prefixes
- Spanish terms derived from Latin
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish prefixes
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish prefixes