Wiktionary

re-

See also: Appendix:Variations of "re"

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English re-, from Old French re-, from Latin re-, red- (“back; anew; again; against”), of uncertain origin but conjectured by Watkins to be from Proto-Indo-European *wret-, a metathetic alteration of *wert- (“to turn”). Displaced native English ed-, eft-, a-, with-/wither-, gain-/again-.

Pronunciation

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Prefix

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re-

  1. again, anew
    renew, recommit, reheat
  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

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  • 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

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Derived terms

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English terms prefixed with re-

Translations

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See also

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References

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  • “re-”, in Merriam-Webster 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

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Catalan

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Etymology

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From Latin re-.

Prefix

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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

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Catalan terms prefixed with re-

Further reading

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Chuukese

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Prefix

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re-

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

Esperanto

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Etymology

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From Latin re-.

Prefix

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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

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Esperanto terms prefixed with re-

Franco-Provençal

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Etymology

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From Latin re-.

Prefix

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re- (ORB, broad)

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

Derived terms

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Franco-Provençal terms prefixed with re-

French

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Etymology

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From Latin re-.

Pronunciation

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Prefix

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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

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

Derived terms

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French terms prefixed with re-

See also

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German

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Pronunciation

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Prefix

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re-

  1. re-

Derived terms

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German terms prefixed with re-

Hungarian

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Etymology

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From Latin re- (“again; back”).

Pronunciation

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Prefix

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re-

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

Derived terms

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Hungarian verbs prefixed with re-

Interlingua

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Etymology

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From Latin re-.

Prefix

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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

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Interlingua terms prefixed with re-

Italian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin re-. The prefix re- is borrowed from Latin, while the variant ri- is inherited from Latin.[1]

Prefix

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re-

  1. re-
    Synonym: ri-

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

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Italian terms prefixed with re-

References

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

Latin

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Etymology

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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”), (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?) while de Vaan suggests Proto-Indo-European *ure- (“back”), which may be found in Proto-Slavic *rakъ (“crayfish, lobster”) (tentatively, in an original sense *“looking backwards”) and Albanian rrë- (“back”, preverb), unless the latter is borrowed from Latin.[1]

Prefix

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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

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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

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Latin terms prefixed with re-

Descendants

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  • 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

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  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

Middle French

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Prefix

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re-

  1. re- (again; once more)

Neapolitan

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Etymology

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Inherited from Latin re-.

Prefix

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re-

  1. re-

Derived terms

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Neapolitan terms prefixed with re-

Norman

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old French re-, from Latin re-.

Prefix

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re-

  1. re-

Derived terms

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Norman terms prefixed with re-

Norwegian Bokmål

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Etymology

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From Latin re-.

Prefix

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re-

  1. re-

References

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Norwegian Bokmål terms prefixed with re-

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology

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From Latin re-.

Prefix

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re-

  1. re-

References

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Norwegian Nynorsk terms prefixed with re-

Occitan

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Etymology

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From Latin re-.

Prefix

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re-

  1. re-

Derived terms

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Occitan terms prefixed with re-

Old French

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Prefix

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re-

  1. re- (again; once more)

Polish

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Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Latin re-.

Pronunciation

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Prefix

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re-

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

Derived terms

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Polish terms prefixed with re-

Further reading

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  • re- in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Prefix

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re-

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

Derived terms

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Portuguese terms prefixed with re-

Romanian

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Prefix

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re-

  1. re-

Spanish

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Etymology 1

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From Latin re-.

Prefix

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re-

  1. again
    ‎re- + ‎construir → ‎reconstruir
  2. backwards
    ‎re- + ‎fluir → ‎refluir
  3. opposition
    ‎re- + ‎pugnar → ‎repugnar

Etymology 2

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Of Proto-Celtic origin, cognate with Irish ró- (“very”). (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

Prefix

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re-

  1. forms superlatives from adjectives
    Synonyms: muy, -ísimo
    ‎re- + ‎bueno (“good”) → ‎rebueno (“great”)
    ‎re- + ‎chulo (“cute”) → ‎rechulo (“very cute”)
Derived terms
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Derived terms
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Further reading

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Swedish

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Prefix

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re-

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

Derived terms

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Swedish terms prefixed with re-

Anagrams

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