English

Prefix

re-

1. again, anew
2. a completive or intensification of the base; up, a-, out
3. back, backward

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

  • 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 dieresis: orthography 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/.

Derived terms

Translations

References

• Definition of re - Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

See also

• again
• re
• repeat

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

Derived terms

French

Etymology

From Latin re-

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə/

Prefix

re-

1. re-

Usage notes

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

See also

• r-

Hungarian

Etymology

From Latin re- ‎(“again; back”).

Prefix

re-

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

Derived terms

Italian

Etymology

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

Prefix

re-

1. re-

Synonyms

• ri-

Derived terms

References

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

Latin

Etymology

The Latin prefix is from 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 methathesis of Proto-Indo-European *wert- ‎(“to turn”), while de Vaan suggests Proto-Indo-European *ure- ‎(“back”), which is related to Proto-Slavic *rakъ in the sense of 'looking backwards.'

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.

Usage notes

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.

Descendants

Middle French

Prefix

re-

1. re- (again; once more)

Norman

Alternative forms

• èr-

Etymology

From Old French re-, from Latin re-.

Prefix

re-

1. re-

Derived terms

Occitan

Prefix

re-

1. re-

Old French

Prefix

re-

1. re- (again; once more)

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Portuguese re-, from Latin re-.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˌʁe./

Prefix

re-

1. re- (forms verbs indicating that the action is being done again)

   re- + ‎fazer ‎(“to do”) → ‎refazer ‎(“to redo”)

Spanish

Etymology 1

From Latin re-

Prefix

re-

1. again
2. backwards

Etymology 2

Of Celtic origin, cognate with Irish ro ‎(“very”)

Prefix

re-

1. Intensification, very.

   Can be used with adjectives to form a superlative e.g.:

   rebueno = buenísimo, rechulo = chulísimo

Synonyms

• muy
• -ísimo

See also

• rete-
• requete-
• recontra-

Swedish

Prefix

re-

1. re-; doing something again

Derived terms

Synonyms

• åter-
• om-