reprieve

English

Alternative forms

• repryve (obsolete), reprive (rare)

Etymology

(deprecated template usage) 1571, in sense of “to take back to prison”, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English repryen (“to remand, detain”) (1494), probably from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle French repris, form of reprendre (“take back”); cognate to reprise. Sense generalized, but retains connotations of punishment and execution. Noun attested 1598. Compare to Latin, privare

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈpɹiːv/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: re‧prieve

Verb

1. (transitive) To cancel or postpone the punishment of someone, especially an execution.
2. (transitive) To bring relief to someone.
   • South

     Company […] may reprieve a man from his melancholy, yet it cannot secure him from his conscience.

3. (transitive, obsolete) To take back to prison (in lieu of execution).

Derived terms

• reprieval

Related terms

• reprise
• reprisal
• reprehend

Noun

reprieve (plural reprieves)

1. The cancellation or postponement of a punishment.
2. A document authorizing such an action.
3. Relief from pain etc., especially temporary.
   • 2015 February 24, Daniel Taylor, “Luis Suárez strikes twice as Barcelona teach Manchester City a lesson”, in The Guardian (London)‎^[1]:

     Yet it was not easy, on the balance of play, to be convinced by Pellegrini and his defeated players that the reprieve might somehow be a defining moment over the two legs.

Translations

cancellation of a punishment

• Dutch: respijt (nl), kwijtschelding (nl)
• French: grâce (fr) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: Begnadigung (de) f, Strafaufschub (de) m
• Russian: отсрочка (ru) (otsročka)

relief from pain

• German: Erlösung (de) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: gracia (es)