reply English · revision 4812

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1382|origins=la replicare}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /rɪˈplaɪ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|replien]], [[bor|fro|replier|t=to reply, turn back, fold again]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la-lat|replicāre|t=to reply, repeat]],^(Etymonline) in classical Latin “to fold back, bend back”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) formed from [[re-]] “back” and plicāre “to fold”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*plek-|t=to plait]].^(Etymonline) It is a doublet of [[replicate]].^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To repeat: before 1382 in Barnhart, in the Wycliffe Bible;^(Barnhart 1988) to answer in words, about 1385 in the OED and about 1386 in Chaucer's Legend of Good Women.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English it could also mean to oppose or retaliate,^(Etymonline) and the literal “to fold back” was used from the early 15th century but has died out.^(Etymonline) To echo is from 1390,^(OED 1989) and in law to answer a defendant's plea from 1453.^(OED 1989) To respond with an act, especially to return gunfire, is from 1818.^(OED 1989) The noun, an answer, is from 1560 in the OED, Barnhart and MWU,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) and in music the answer in a fugue from 1597.^(OED 1989) In modern French répliquer has the sense “to reply”, while replier keeps the literal “to fold”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1382 – to repeat.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1385 – to answer.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1453 – in law, to answer a plea.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1560 – noun, an answer.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1818 – to return gunfire.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To say or write something as an [[answer]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To respond with an action.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(law)'' To answer a defendant's [[plea]].^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # Something said, written or done as an answer.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==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''.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}