rep English · revision 5819

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=clipping|attested=a1705}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a clipping, at different times, of [[reputation]], [[repetition]], [[representative]] and [[repertory]].^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Reputation: before 1705 in the OED, 1705 in Etymonline,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) where ''upon rep'', “I swear it”, was common 18th-century slang.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) MWU dates this sense to 1677.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As short for repetition, a piece learned by heart, it is school slang from 1864, and a single repetition of an exercise in body-building from 1953.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) As short for representative, especially a sales representative, it is from 1896 (MWU has 1789),^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) and the verb, to act as a representative, from before 1961.^(OED 1989) As short for repertory, a repertory company or theatre, it is from 1925, first American.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In the 18th century rep also meant a person of loose character (1747), perhaps short for reprobate.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a1705 – reputation.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1747 – a loose-living person.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1864 – repetition (school slang).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1896 – a representative.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1925 – repertory.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1953 – a repetition of an exercise.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(informal)'' A [[representative]], especially a [[sales]] representative.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' A single performance of an [[exercise]], counted in a set.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(informal)'' [[repertory|alt=Repertory]], or a repertory company or theatre.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(informal, chiefly US)'' [[reputation|alt=Reputation]].^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(informal)'' To act as a representative for a company or product.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[repped]]

+ * [[sales rep]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[reputation]]

+ * [[repetition]]

+ * [[representative]]

+ * [[repertory]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Rep, also spelled repp, a fabric with a ribbed surface (1860), is a different word, from French reps, of unknown origin;^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) MWU and Collins suggest French reps is from English ribs.^(MWU 2024)^(Collins 2023) Rep is also an abbreviation of roentgen equivalent physical, an old unit of radiation dose (1947).^(OED 1989)^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}