Wiktionary

repair

English edit

Etymology 1 edit

Coined between 1300 and 1350 from Middle English repairen, from Middle French reparer, from Latin reparō (“renew, repair”).

Pronunciation edit

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ɹɪˈpɛə/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ɹɪˈpɛɚ/, /ɹəˈpɛɚ/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)

Verb edit

repair (third-person singular simple present repairs, present participle repairing, simple past and past participle repaired)

  1. To restore to good working order, fix, or improve damaged condition; to mend; to remedy.
    to repair a house, a road, a shoe, a ship
    to repair a shattered fortune
  2. To make amends for, as for an injury, by an equivalent; to indemnify for.
    to repair a loss or damage
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit
Translations edit

Noun edit

repair (countable and uncountable, plural repairs)

  1. The act of repairing something.
    I took the car to the workshop for repair.
    • 2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:
      One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. […] But out of sight is out of mind. And that […] means that many old sewers have been neglected and are in dire need of repair.
  2. The result of repairing something.
    If you look closely you can see the repair in the paintwork.
  3. The condition of something, in respect of need for repair.
    The car was overall in poor repair before the accident. But after the workshop had it for three weeks it was returned in excellent repair. But the other vehicle was beyond repair.
    • 1962 March, J. M. Tolson, “The Netherlands Railways today—I”, in Modern Railways, page 172:
      The 1300 class (Nos. 1301-16), one of which was damaged beyond repair in an accident, are Co-Cos, weigh 111 tons and have a top speed of 85 m.p.h.
    • 2020 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43:
      Thirteen houses were damaged beyond repair, and much of the rest of the town suffered broken windows and lost slates.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Etymology 2 edit

From Middle English repairen (“to return”), from Old French repairier, from Late Latin repatriare (“to return to one's country”), from re- + patria (“homeland”). Cognate to repatriate.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

repair (plural repairs)

  1. The act of repairing or resorting to a place.
    our annual repair to the mountains
  2. A place to which one goes frequently or habitually; a haunt.
Translations edit

Verb edit

repair (third-person singular simple present repairs, present participle repairing, simple past and past participle repaired)

  2. To transfer oneself to another place.
    to repair to sanctuary for safety
    • c. 1699 – 1703, Alexander Pope, “The First Book of Statius His Thebais”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC:
      Go, mount the winds, and to the shades repair.
    • 1828, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter XVI, in Pelham; or, The Adventures of a Gentleman. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 111:
      At the hour of half-past five we repaired to our engagement.
    • 1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter IV, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 109:
      At a late hour, after I had been in bed some time, I heard the visitors repair to their chambers:
    • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 47:
      That finished, I repaired to my room, one flight up, and, after a thorough wash, seated myself, pipe in mouth, at the little window that opened on the Rue Garde.
    • 1960 April, B. Perren, “Resorts for Railfans -30: Bournemouth”, in Trains Illustrated, page 239:
      [...] the train engine uncouples and either backs on to the up through line to await its next duty or repairs to the motive power depot.
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Etymology 3 edit

From re- +‎ pair.

Alternative forms edit

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

repair (third-person singular simple present repairs, present participle repairing, simple past and past participle repaired)

  2. To pair again.
    Please try to repair the two earbuds to each other. Place both earbuds back into the charging case, wait for four seconds, then open it and see if they have been repaired with one another.

Further reading edit

Anagrams edit

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