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rerun

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Etymology and origin of the English word rerun

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1804 More words from the 19th century
Ultimate origins
Anglo-Norman re-Old English rinnan
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English run
English rerun
From the same root
English outrun ← run
English runaway ← run
English runny ← run
English runway ← run

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈɹiːɹʌn/[1]
  • US: /ˈɹiɹʌn/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English re- (“again”) + run.[2][3][4][5] Dictionary.com dates the formation to 1795–1805.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To run over again, in reference to races and the like: 1804.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word began as a verb about running a race or a course again,[2][6] and the noun followed in the 20th century: Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates its first use to 1922,[3] while Etymonline records it of films from 1934 and of television programmes from 1955.[2] The sense of showing a film again is recorded for the verb by 1962.[2] The noun came to mean both the repeated showing and the film or programme shown again,[3][6] and in computing a repeated run of a program or part of one.[6][1]

Timeline

  • 1804 – verb, to run a race or course again.[2][3]
  • 1922 – noun, the act of running something again.[3]
  • 1934 – noun, a repeated showing of a film.[2]
  • 1955 – noun, a repeated broadcast of a television programme.[2]
  • 1962 – verb, to show a film again.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A broadcast or showing of a film, play or television series after its first run; a repeat: They spent the evening watching reruns of an old comedy.[6][3][7]
  2. The film or programme itself that is shown again.[3][6]
  3. A race or contest that is run again.[6]
  4. (computing) A repeated run of a computer program or of part of one.[6]

Verb

  1. To run something, such as a race, again.[3][6]
  2. To broadcast or show a film, play or programme again.[6][7][4]
  3. To run a program or an experiment again.[4][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Cite this entry

“Rerun.” Etymologically, 12 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/rerun. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·