re English · revision 3548
15 Oct 2026, 19:46 by bogdan “New entries: re … land (en10k b0036)” current version
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+ English has two words spelled ''re'': the musical note and the preposition “concerning”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate)
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: note /reɪ/; preposition /riː/, /reɪ/^(Roach et al. 2011)
+
+ {{homograph|1|musical note}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1325|origins=la resonāre}}
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ The musical note is [[inh|enm|re]], [[bor|la-med|re]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate)^(AHD 2000) the first syllable of [[la|resonāre|t=to resound]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) the word sung to this note in a medieval hymn to St John the Baptist.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) See [[gamut]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The second note of Guido's hexachords: about 1325.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ In the modern solmization of the octave it is the second note of the scale, and in French and Italian use, rarely in English, the note D.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) Merriam-Webster dates the sense to the 14th century,^(MW Collegiate) and the Unabridged to the 15th.^(MWU 2024)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 1325 – the second note of the hexachord.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # ''(music)'' The second note of the [[diatonic]] scale in [[solfège]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)
+
+ {{homograph|2|concerning}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1707 (Thomas Hearne)|origins=la rēs}}
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ The preposition is [[bor|la|rē|t=in the matter of]], the ablative of [[m|la|rēs|t=thing, matter, affair]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000)^(MWU 2024) from the legal phrase [[m|la|in rē]].^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Etymonline traces ''rēs'' to Proto-Italic [[m|itc-pro|*rē-]] and [[ine-pro|*reh-i-|t=wealth, goods]].^(Etymonline) It is related to [[real]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ In the matter of, concerning: 1707, in Thomas Hearne's ''Remarks and Collections''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The word was used from about 1700 in legal language.^(Etymonline) Etymonline notes that Fowler condemned its use outside legal and business writing in three sections of ''Modern English Usage''.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1707 – concerning (Hearne).^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Preposition===
+ # In the matter of; concerning, about.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[in re]]
+ * [[in rem]]
+ * [[real]]
+ * [[gamut]]
+ * [[rebus]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}