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Etymology and origin of the English word reprint

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1551
Ultimate origin
Latin premō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English print
English reprint
From the same root
English blueprint ← print
English fingerprint ← print
English footprint ← print

Pronunciation

  • /ˈɹiːpɹɪnt/, /ɹiːˈpɹɪnt/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English re- + print.[2][3][4][5][6] Print goes back through Middle English to Old French preinte (“impression”), from preindre (“to press”), from Latin premō (“to press”).[4] The noun comes from the verb.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To print a work again, in a new impression: 1551, in a document quoted in the introduction to an 1847 edition of Nicholas Udall's Ralph Roister Doister.[2][3] Etymonline dates the verb to the 1550s.[4]

Semantic evolution

Soon after the first sense, reprint was also used of printing a work again with revisions (about 1570),[2] and since 1616 intransitively, of a work being reprinted.[2] A figurative sense, to stamp or imprint something again, ran from 1605 to 1683;[2] Johnson (1755) gave "to renew the impression of any thing" first, quoting South on reprinting God's image upon the soul, and "to print a new edition" second.[7] The noun, a new impression of a printed work, is recorded from 1611, in Florio's dictionary,[2][3][4] and in typography from 1824 for printed matter used as copy to be set again.[2][4] Later senses of the noun include an article issued separately after appearing in a periodical, an offprint.[3][8]

Timeline

  • 1551 – verb, to print again.[2][3]
  • c. 1570 – to print again with revisions.[2]
  • 1605 – to imprint or stamp again (obsolete by 1683).[2]
  • 1611 – noun, a new impression of a work.[2][3]
  • 1616 – intransitive, of a work, to be reprinted.[2]
  • 1824 – printed matter used as copy for setting again.[2][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To print a work or text again, especially without changes: The publisher reprinted the cookbook after it sold out.[3][8][2]
  2. Of a work, to be printed again.[2]
  3. (obsolete, 1605–1683) To stamp or imprint again; to renew an impression.[2][7]

Noun

  1. A new printing of a work already published, with the same text.[3][8][2]
  2. An article issued separately after first appearing in a periodical or collection; an offprint.[3][8]
  3. Printed matter used as copy to be set and printed again.[3][2]

Word family

  • reprinter

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  8. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Reprint.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/reprint. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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