re-

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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

  • IPA(key): /ɹiː/, /ɹɪ/, /ɹɛ/

Prefix

re-

  1. again, anew
  2. a completive or intensification of the base; up, a-, out
  3. back, backward

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)
  • 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

See also

References

  • re-”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams


Catalan

Etymology

From Latin re-.

Prefix

re-

  1. re- (again)
    re- + ‎fer (to do) → ‎refer (to redo)
  2. Intensifier for adjectives and adverbs.
    re- + ‎vell (old) → ‎revell (very old)
    Synonym: -íssim
  3. great-, grand- (used to denote the removal of one generation)
    re- + ‎nebot (nephew) → ‎renebot (grandnephew)
    Synonym: bes-

Derived terms

Further reading


Chuukese

Prefix

re-

  1. (inflected as a noun) with
  2. (subject marker for tense modifying adverbs) they

Esperanto

Etymology

From Latin re-.

Prefix

re-

  1. indicates repetition, again
  2. indicates a return to previous state, back
  3. indicates an action performed reciprocally, back (e.g., to hit back, to talk back)

Derived terms


French

Etymology

From Latin re-.

Pronunciation

Prefix

re-

  1. 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-

  1. re-

Derived terms


Hungarian

Etymology

From Latin re- (again; back).

Prefix

re-

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

Derived terms


Interlingua

Etymology

From Latin re-.

Prefix

re-

  1. back, backwards
  2. 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-

  1. re-
    Synonym: ri-

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ 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-

  1. back, backwards
  2. 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

  • Catalan: re-
  • English: re-
  • French: re-, ré-, r-
  • Galician: re-
  • Interlingua: re-
  • Italian: re-, ri-
  • Mozarabic: ro-
  • Norman: re-, èr-
  • Occitan: re-
  • Picard: ar-
  • Portuguese: re-
  • Romanian: ră-, re-
  • Spanish: re-

Middle French

Prefix

re-

  1. 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-

  1. re-

Derived terms


Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin re-.

Prefix

re-

  1. re-

References


Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin re-.

Prefix

re-

  1. re-

References


Occitan

Etymology

From Latin re-.

Prefix

re-

  1. re-

Derived terms


Old French

Prefix

re-

  1. re- (again; once more)

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese re-, from Latin re-.

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 290: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "Brazil" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˌʁe./

Prefix

re-

  1. re- (forms verbs indicating that the action is being done again)
    re- + ‎fazer (to do) → ‎refazer (to redo)

Spanish

Etymology 1

From Latin re-.

Prefix

re-

  1. again
  2. backwards

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-

  1. Intensification, very.
    Can be used with adjectives to form a superlative e.g.:
    rebueno = buenísimo, rechulo = chulísimo
Synonyms

Derived terms

Further reading


Swedish

Prefix

re-

  1. re-; doing something again
    Synonyms: åter-, om-

Derived terms

Anagrams