re-

re-

See also: Appendix:Variations of "re"

English

Etymology

    From Middle English re-, from Old French re-, from Latin re-, red- (back; anew; again; against), see there for more. Displaced native English ed-, eft-, a-, with-/wither-, gain-/again-.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ɹiː/
      • Audio (US):(file)
    • IPA(key): /ɹɪ/
      • Audio (US):(file)
    • IPA(key): /ɹə/
      • Audio (US):(file)

    Prefix

    re-

    1. again, anew
      re- + ‎new → ‎renew (to make something new again)
      re- + ‎commit → ‎recommit (to commit an act again)
      re- + ‎heat → ‎reheat (to heat something that has cooled off)
    2. a completive or intensification of the base; up, a-, out
      reletter, relead, rebronze (examples from: [1])
    3. back, backward
      reject, reply, resist

    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
      • When the word that the prefix is combined with begins with another re-.
        re-record
      • 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 diaeresis (diacritic) 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/.

    Synonyms

    Derived terms

    English terms prefixed with re-

    Translations

    See also

    References

    • re-”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
    1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “re- (prefix),” December 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/1031113569.

    Anagrams

    Catalan

    Etymology

    From Latin re-.

    Prefix

    re-

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

    Derived terms

    Further reading

    Chuukese

    Prefix

    re-

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

    Danish

    Etymology

    From Latin re-.

    Prefix

    re-

    1. re-
      Synonyms: gen-, om-, ny-

    Derived terms

    Danish terms prefixed with re-

    References

    Dutch

    Etymology

    From Latin re-. Doublet of her-.

    Prefix

    re-

    1. re-

    Derived terms

    Esperanto

    Etymology

      From Latin re-.

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /re-/
      • Audio:(file)
      • Rhymes: -e-
      • Syllabification: 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

      Further reading

      Franco-Provençal

      Etymology

      From Latin re-.

      Prefix

      re- (ORB, broad)

      1. Attaches to verbs, often adding a sense of repetition or reversion.

      Derived terms

      Franco-Provençal terms prefixed with re-

      French

      Etymology

      From Latin re-.

      Pronunciation

      Prefix

      re-

      1. re-
        re- + ‎marcher (to function) → ‎remarcher (to function again)
      2. meaningless generic derivation prefix, especially as r-. From semantic bleaching of sense 1 followed by the unprefixed terms becoming obsolete or diverging in meaning.

      Usage notes

      This is only used when the stem starts with a consonant; otherwise, ré- or r- are used.

      Derived terms

      French terms prefixed with re-

      See also

      German

      Pronunciation

      Prefix

      re-

      1. re-

      Derived terms

      Hungarian

      Etymology

      From Latin re- (again; back).

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): [ˈrɛ]

      Prefix

      re-

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

      Derived terms

      Hungarian verbs prefixed with re-

      Indonesian

      Etymology

      Internationalism, ultimately from Latin re-. Doublet of her.

      Pronunciation

      Prefix

      re-

      1. re-

      Derived terms

      Further reading

      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

      Interlingua terms prefixed with re-

      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-

      Usage notes

      • The prefix re- normally replaces ri- before words beginning with i, for euphonic reasons.

      Derived terms

      References

      1. ^ Migliorini, Bruno with Aldo Duro (1950), Prontuario etimologico della lingua italiana (in Italian), Paravia

      Latin

      Etymology

        From Proto-Italic *wre- (again), of uncertain origin (OED); see the Proto-Italic entry for more.[1]

        Prefix

        re-

        1. back, backwards
        2. un-, de-[2]
          re- + ‎glūtinō (glue) → ‎reglūtinō (unglue, separate)
          re- + ‎neō (spin, weave, entwine) → ‎reneō (unspin, unravel)
          re- + ‎gelō (freeze, congeal) → ‎regelō (thaw, unfreeze)
        3. 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 alternative form red- occurs before vowels or h in old formations; it is used with the linking vowel -i- in the word redivīvus. The -d- can be compared to that in sēditiō (compare sē- and sed) and in prōd-, antid-, postid- (alternative forms of prō-, ante-, post-). It may originate from the particle *de[3] or from the use of -d as an archaic ablative singular ending. The use of the form re- before vowels, as in reaedifico, reinvito, is not seen until Late Latin.[3] (See Lewis & Short, A Latin Dictionary, 1897, s.v. "re" and "D").

        Before consonants, its usual form is rĕ- with short /e/, but the following consonant is sometimes doubled. In some cases, such as reccidī, the double consonant comes from syncope of an originally reduplicated syllable of the base word: compare the unprefixed form cecidī. In other cases, such as redducō, relligiō, relliquiae, the double consonant may have arisen from preconsonantal use of red-, with assimilation of -d- to the following consonant.

        Derived terms

        Latin terms prefixed with re-

        Descendants

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

        References

        1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “re-, red-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 516
        2. ^ R. B. Burnaby (1905), Elegiac Selections from Ovid, page 98
        3. 3.0 3.1 Lindsay, Wallace Martin (1894), The Latin Language, page 591

        Middle French

        Prefix

        re-

        1. re- (again; once more)

        Neapolitan

        Etymology

        Inherited from Latin re-.

        Prefix

        re-

        1. re-

        Derived terms

        Neapolitan terms prefixed with re-

        Norman

        Alternative forms

        Etymology

        From Old French re-, from 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

        Occitan terms prefixed with re-

        Old French

        Etymology

          From Latin re-.

          Prefix

          re-

          1. re- (again; once more)

          Polish

          Etymology

            Learned borrowing from Latin re-.

            Pronunciation

            • IPA(key): /rɛ/
            • Audio:(file)
            • Rhymes:
            • Syllabification: re-
            • Homophones: re, Re

            Prefix

            re-

            1. re- (again, anew)
            2. re- (back, backward)

            Derived terms

            Further reading

            • re-”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN[1] (in Polish)

            Portuguese

            Etymology

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

            Pronunciation

             
            • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ʁe/ [he], /ˌʁe/ [ˌhe]

            Prefix

            re-

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

            Derived terms

            Portuguese terms prefixed with re-

            Further reading

            Romanian

            Etymology

            Borrowed from Latin re-. The form ră- only appears in a few inherited words.

            Pronunciation

            • IPA(key): /re/

            Prefix

            re-

            1. re-

            Slovak

            Etymology

            Learned borrowing from Latin re-.

            Prefix

            re-

            1. re- (again, anew)
            2. re- (back, backward)

            Derived terms

            Slovak terms prefixed with re-

            Spanish

            Etymology

            From Latin re-.

            The use with adjectives is typical of Ibero-Romance. Compare Italian stra- (from Latin extra-), French très (from Latin trans-; now spelt separate, but formerly also a prefix).

            Prefix

            re-

            1. back, backwards
              re- + ‎fluir → ‎refluir
              re- + ‎pugnar → ‎repugnar
            2. again
              re- + ‎construir → ‎reconstruir
            3. strongly, intensely
              re- + ‎bramar → ‎rebramar
            4. (now chiefly colloquial) forms absolute superlatives from adjectives
              Synonyms: muy, -ísimo
              re- + ‎bueno (good) → ‎rebueno (great)
              re- + ‎chulo (cute) → ‎rechulo (very cute)

            Derived terms

            Spanish terms prefixed with re-

            Further reading

            Swedish

            Prefix

            re-

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

            Derived terms

            Anagrams