repay
English edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Old French repaier (“to pay back”), from re- + paiier (“to pay”), from Latin pācāre (“to settle, to make peaceful”), from pāx (“peace”) + -ō (“forming verbs”). Equivalent to re- + pay. Cognate with repacify and French repayer (“to pay again”).
Verb edit
repay (third-person singular simple present repays, present participle repaying, simple past and past participle repaid)
- Synonym of pay back in all senses.
- I finally repaid my student loans, just before sending my kids to college.
- 1707, Isaac Watts, “Godly Sorrow ariſing from the Sufferings of Chriſt”, in Hymns and Spiritual Songs, London: J. Humfreys, page 86:
- But drops of Grief can ne’re repay / The debt of Love I owe, […]
- 1962 April, “Talking of Trains: Short-sighted approach to profits?”, in Modern Railways, page 219:
- On the results of the Kent Coast electrification, which is known to be repaying so far a satisfactory return on the investment in it, a Waterloo-Bournemouth scheme shows reasonable financial promise.
- (transitive) To make worthwhile; to yield a result worth the effort; to pay off.
- 2013, M. Pavone-MacAluso, Testicular Cancer and Other Tumors of the Genitourinary Tract, page 517:
- The possible importance of excessive androgen secretion and the ingestion of agents such as the fluorenamines may repay further investigation.
- (transitive) To give in return; requite.
Derived terms edit
Etymology 2 edit
Verb edit
repay (third-person singular simple present repays, present participle repaying, simple past and past participle repayed or repaid)
- (nautical) To pay (cover with tar, pitch, etc.) again.