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”), 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

• 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: )

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

• (again): ana-, palin-
• (back): with-

Derived terms

English terms prefixed with re-

Translations

again

• Armenian: վերա- (vera-)
• Azerbaijani: yenidən
• Catalan: re- (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 重- (-chóng), 再- (zài-)

• Crimean Tatar: yañıdan
• Czech: pře- (cs), znovu-
• Danish: gen-
• Dutch: her- (nl), weer-, weder-
• Esperanto: re- (eo)
• Finnish: jälleen- (fi), uudestaan (fi)
• French: r- (fr), re- (fr), ré- (fr)

  Middle French: re-

  Old French: re-

• Galician: re- (gl)
• Georgian: ხელახლა (xelaxla), განმეორებით (ganmeorebit), კვლავ (ḳvlav), რე- (re-)
• German: re- (de), wieder- (de), zurück- (de)
• Greek: ανα- (el) (ana-), επανα- (el) (epana-), ξανα- (el) (xana-)
• Hindi: पुनः- (punaḥ-)
• Hittite: 𒀀𒀊𒉺 (a-ap-pa)
• Hungarian: újra- (hu), újjá- (hu)
• Icelandic: endur-
• Ido: ri-
• Interlingua: re-
• Irish: a-, ath-
• Italian: re- (it), ri- (it)
• Japanese: 再- (ja) (sai-), -直す (-naosu), -返す (-kaesu)
• Khmer: វិញ (km) (vɨñ)
• Korean: 재 (ko) (jae), 재 (jae-)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: ve- (ku)

• Luwian: 𒀀𒀊𒉺 (a-ap-pa)
• Malayalam: പുനഃ- (punaḥ-)
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norman: èr-, re-
• Norwegian: gjen-
• Occitan: re-
• Old English: ed-, aġēn
• Persian: باز- (bâz-)
• Polish: od- (pl), prze- (pl)
• Portuguese: re- (pt)
• Romanian: re- (ro)
• Russian: пере- (ru) (pere-), воз- (ru) (voz-)/вос- (ru) (vos-), ре- (ru) (re-)
• Sanskrit : पुनः- (punaḥ-)
• Scottish Gaelic: ath- (lenites)
• Spanish: re- (es)
• Swedish: åter- (sv), re- (sv), om- (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: yeniden (tr), tekrar (tr)
• Ukrainian: пере- (pere-), воз- (voz-), ре- (re-), від- (vid-)
• Vietnamese: lại (vi)
• Walloon: ri- (wa), er- (wa), r- (wa)
• Welsh: ail-, eil-, ad-, at-

See also

• again
• re
• repeat

References

• “re-”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• 'er, -'er, -er, E-R, E. R., E.R., ER, er, er.

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

Catalan terms prefixed with re-

Further reading

• “re-” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “re-”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “re-” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “re-” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Chuukese

Prefix

re-

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

Esperanto

Etymology

From Latin 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

Esperanto terms prefixed with re-

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

• IPA^(key): /ʁə/

• Audio:

  (file)

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

• r-

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁe/

• Audio:

  (file)

Prefix

re-

1. re-

Derived terms

German terms prefixed with re-

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-

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.

Prefix

re-

1. re-

   Synonym: ri-

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

Italian terms prefixed with re-

Latin

Etymology

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.

Prefix

re-

1. back, backwards
2. un-, de-

   ‎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 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. (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-

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

• èr-

Etymology

From Old French re-, from Latin re-.

Prefix

re-

1. re-

Derived terms

Norman terms prefixed with re-

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin re-.

Prefix

re-

1. re-

References

Norwegian Bokmål terms prefixed with re-

• “re-” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin re-.

Prefix

re-

1. re-

References

Norwegian Nynorsk terms prefixed with re-

• “re-” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin re-.

Prefix

re-

1. re-

Derived terms

Occitan terms prefixed with re-

Old French

Prefix

re-

1. re- (again; once more)

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin re-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rɛ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛ
• Syllabification: [please specify syllabification manually]
• Homophones: re, Re

Prefix

re-

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

Derived terms

Polish terms prefixed with re-

Further reading

• re- in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

 

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

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁe/ [he], /ˌʁe/ [ˌhe]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ʁe/ [χe], /ˌʁe/ [ˌχe]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁɨ/

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-

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 1

From Latin re-.

Prefix

re-

1. again

   ‎re- + ‎construir → ‎reconstruir

2. backwards

   ‎re- + ‎fluir → ‎refluir

3. opposition

   ‎re- + ‎pugnar → ‎repugnar

Etymology 2

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

Prefix

re-

1. forms superlatives from adjectives

   Synonyms: muy, -ísimo

   ‎re- + ‎bueno (“good”) → ‎rebueno (“great”)

   ‎re- + ‎chulo (“cute”) → ‎rechulo (“very cute”)

Derived terms

• rete-, requete-, recontra-
• re

Derived terms

• Spanish terms prefixed with re-

Further reading

• “re-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy, 2023 November 28

Swedish

Prefix

re-

1. re-; doing something again

   Synonyms: åter-, om-

Derived terms

Swedish terms prefixed with re-

Anagrams

• -er, er, er-