reply

Pronunciation

• IPA: /rɪˈplaɪ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English replien, borrowed from Old French replier (“to reply, turn back, fold again”),^[2][3] from Late Latin replicāre (“to reply, repeat”),^[2] in classical Latin “to fold back, bend back”,^[2][3] formed from re- “back” and plicāre “to fold”,^[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *plek- (“to plait”).^[2] It is a doublet of replicate.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To repeat: before 1382 in Barnhart, in the Wycliffe Bible;^[3] to answer in words, about 1385 in the OED and about 1386 in Chaucer's Legend of Good Women.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English it could also mean to oppose or retaliate,^[2] and the literal “to fold back” was used from the early 15th century but has died out.^[2] To echo is from 1390,^[5] and in law to answer a defendant's plea from 1453.^[5] To respond with an act, especially to return gunfire, is from 1818.^[5] The noun, an answer, is from 1560 in the OED, Barnhart and MWU,^[5][3][6] and in music the answer in a fugue from 1597.^[5] In modern French répliquer has the sense “to reply”, while replier keeps the literal “to fold”.^[2]

Timeline

• 1382 – to repeat.^[3]
• c. 1385 – to answer.^[5]
• 1453 – in law, to answer a plea.^[5]
• 1560 – noun, an answer.^[5][6]
• 1818 – to return gunfire.^[5]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To say or write something as an answer.
2. To respond with an action.
3. (law) To answer a defendant's plea.

Noun

1. Something said, written or done as an answer.

Word family

• replier
• unreplied
• counterreply
• unreplying
• business reply

Related words

• replicate
• replica
• ply
• apply
• imply

Usage notes

In Northumberland dialect reply was a corruption of “supply”, as in a fresh reply of coals.^[7]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)