Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A repetition of a phrase or verse.
  • noun A return to an original theme.
  • noun A recurrence or resumption of an action.
  • transitive verb To repeat or resume an action; make a reprise of.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To take again; retake.
  • To recompense; pay.
  • To take; arrest.
  • noun A taking by way of retaliation; reprisal.
  • noun In masonry, the return of a molding in an internal angle.
  • noun In maritime law, a ship recaptured from an enemy or a pirate. If recaptured within twenty-four hours of her capture, she must be restored to her owners; if after that period, she is the lawful prize of those who have recaptured her.
  • noun plural In law, yearly deductions, duties, or payments out of a manor and lands, as rent-charge, rent-seek, annuities, and the like. Also written reprizes.
  • noun In music: The act of repeating a passage, or a passage repeated.
  • noun A return to the first theme or subject of a short work or section, after an intermediate or contrasted passage.
  • noun A revival of an obsolete or forgotten work.
  • noun Blame; reproach.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A taking by way of retaliation.
  • noun (Law) Deductions and duties paid yearly out of a manor and lands, as rent charge, rent seck, pensions, annuities, and the like.
  • noun A ship recaptured from an enemy or from a pirate.
  • transitive verb obsolete To take again; to retake.
  • transitive verb obsolete To recompense; to pay.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A recurrence or resumption of an action.
  • noun music A repetition of a phrase, or a return to an earlier theme.
  • noun fencing A renewal of a failed attack, after going back into the on guard position.
  • verb obsolete, transitive To take (something) up or on again.
  • verb To repeat or resume an action
  • verb obsolete To recompense; to pay.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb repeat an earlier theme of a composition

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, act of taking back, from Old French, from feminine past participle of reprendre, to take back; see reprieve.]

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