re-

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English re-,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman re- and Old French re-, and directly borrowed from Latin re-,^[4][5][6][7] also red- before vowels in earlier Latin.^[4][7][6] The prefix is cognate with Umbrian re- and is restricted to Italic;^[4][7][6] the OED calls its further etymology unknown.^[4] According to Etymonline, Watkins suggests a metathetic variant of Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn”), while de Vaan accepts only a 2004 explanation that reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *ure (“back”).^[5] It is related to retro-.^[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The original Latin sense was back or backwards, as in recēdō, the source of recede.^[4][7] Words with the prefix first appear in English in the early 13th century: the Ancrene Riwle, the first text where they are prominent, has recluse, relic, religion and remission.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Already in Latin the prefix ranged from back to a starting point, through back into an earlier state, to again; it could also mean undoing, as in reveal, or holding back, as in retain.^[4][7] In many borrowed words the force has faded so far that it is hard to separate, as in receive and require.^[6][4] Words from Latin and French multiplied in the 14th century, with Langland, Chaucer and Trevisa.^[4] Towards the end of the 16th century the prefix became productive in English, and it was freely added to native verbs, a practice rare before then: Shakespeare has regreet, relive, retell and reword.^[4] Dictionaries such as those of Florio and Cotgrave then coined many more to translate Italian and French words.^[4] English formations nearly always mean again, and this can now go on most verbs.^[4] A prefix pronounced with a long vowel and written with a hyphen separates the new sense from an older word, as with re-cover and recover.^[4][6][3]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – first in English, in words from French and Latin.^[5]
• early 13th century – prominent in the Ancrene Riwle.^[4]
• 14th century – renew, on a native verb but after Latin renovō, in the Wycliffite Bible and Trevisa.^[4]
• mid 16th century – extensive borrowing of Latin words with the prefix begins.^[4]
• late 16th century – freely added to native verbs, as in rebuild and retell.^[4]
• 1605 – doubled to show further repetition, in Sylvester.^[4]

Meanings

Prefix

1. Added to verbs and their derivatives to mean again or anew: redraw, remarry.^[3][9][10]
2. Added to mean back to an earlier place or state: restore, retrace.^[9][3][6]
3. In words from Latin, marking movement back, withdrawal, or opposition: recede, retract, resist.^[6][10]

Word family

• rebuild
• recall
• redo
• reform
• renew
• retell

Related words

• retro-
• un-

Usage notes

Collins points out that verbs in re- already say again, so an added again or back is usually unnecessary.^[9] Merriam-Webster keeps a hyphen when the word would be confused with another of a different meaning, when the base begins with re- or when it begins with a capital.^[3]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press