repente

French

Verb

repente

1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of repentir

Anagrams

• pénètre, pénétré

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /reˈpɛn.te/
• Rhymes: -ɛnte
• Hyphenation: re‧pèn‧te

Adjective

repente m or f by sense (plural repenti)

1. sudden, rapid

Derived terms

• repentemente

Adverb

repente

1. suddenly, rapidly

Anagrams

• perente, terpene

Latin

Alternative forms

• repēns

Etymology

Adverbial form of repēns (“sudden”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [rɛˈpɛn.tɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [reˈpɛn.te]

Adverb

repente (not comparable)

1. suddenly.

   Synonyms: mox, extemplo, propere, statim, raptim, confestim, breviter, brevi

   • c. 84 BCE – 54 BCE, Catullus, Carmina 10.3:

     […] ut mihi tum repente vīsum est

     […] as it then immediately seemed to me

Derived terms

• dērepente
• surrepente

Adjective

repente

1. ablative masculine/feminine/neuter singular of repens

Descendants

• Gascon: arrebén (“abrupt slope”), arrebenté
• → Italian: repente
• → Portuguese: repente
• → Spanish: repente

References

• “repente”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “repente”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “repente”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • a sudden shower: imbres repente effusi
    
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “repens”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 10: R, page 265

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin rēpentem (“sudden, unexpected”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁeˈpẽ.t͡ʃi/ [heˈpẽ.t͡ʃi]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁeˈpẽ.t͡ʃi/ [heˈpẽ.t͡ʃi]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ʁeˈpẽ.t͡ʃi/ [χeˈpẽ.t͡ʃi]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁeˈpẽ.te/ [heˈpẽ.te]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁɨˈpẽ.tɨ/

• Audio (Portugal (Porto)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -ẽt͡ʃi, (Portugal) -ẽtɨ
• Hyphenation: re‧pen‧te

Noun

repente m (plural repentes)

1. attack, upsurge
2. sudden movement
3. (Brazil) a fast-paced, rhymed song sung impromptu, common in the Northeast region in Brazil

Derived terms

• de repente
• repentista

Related terms

• repentino

Further reading

• “repente”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “repente”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin rēpentem (“sudden, unexpected”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /reˈpente/ [reˈpẽn̪.t̪e]
• Rhymes: -ente
• Syllabification: re‧pen‧te

Noun

repente m (plural repentes)

1. attack, upsurge
2. fit, sudden movement

Derived terms

• de repente

Related terms

• repentino

Further reading

• “repente”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025