Prefix
re-
- again, anew
- re- + new → renew (“to make something new again”)
- re- + commit → recommit (“to commit an act again”)
- re- + heat → reheat (“to heat something that has cooled off”)
- a completive or intensification of the base; up, a-, out
- reletter, relead, rebronze (examples from: [1])
- back, backward
- reject, reply, resist
Usage notes
- The pronunciation varies depending on the word, with /ɹiː/, /ɹɪ/ (some pronunciations), /ɹɛ/ found in words like replay, resist and revolution, respectively.
- The hyphen is not normally included in words formed using this prefix, except when the absence of a hyphen would make the meaning unclear. Hyphens are used in the following cases:
- Sometimes in new coinages and nonce words.
- stir and re-stir the mixture
- When the word that the prefix is combined with begins with a capital letter.
- re-Christianise
- When the word that the prefix is combined with begins with another re-.
- re-record
- In British usage, when the word that the prefix is combined with begins with e.
- re-entry (North American: reentry)
- When the word formed is identical in form to another word in which re- does not have any of the senses listed above.
- The chairs have been re-covered (covered again)
- The chairs have been recovered (obtained back)
- A dieresis may be used instead of a hyphen, as in reëntry. This usage is now rare, but extant; see diaeresis (diacritic) for examples and discussion.
- re- is highly productive, to the point of being almost grammaticalized — almost any verb can have re- applied, especially in colloquial speech. Notable exceptions to this include all forms of be and the modal verbs can, should, etc. When used productively, it is always pronounced /ɹiː/.
Translations
again
- Armenian: վերա- (vera-)
- Azerbaijani: yenidən
- Catalan: re- (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 重- (-chóng), 再- (zài-)
- Crimean Tatar: yañıdan
- Czech: pře- (cs), znovu-
- Danish: gen-
- Dutch: her- (nl), weer-, weder-
- Esperanto: re- (eo)
- Finnish: jälleen- (fi), uudestaan (fi)
- French: r- (fr), re- (fr), ré- (fr)
- Middle French: re-
- Old French: re-
- Galician: re- (gl)
- Georgian: ხელახლა (xelaxla), განმეორებით (ganmeorebit), კვლავ (ḳvlav), რე- (re-)
- German: re- (de), wieder- (de), zurück- (de)
- Greek: ανα- (el) (ana-), επανα- (el) (epana-), ξανα- (el) (xana-)
- Hindi: पुनः- (punaḥ-)
- Hittite: 𒀀𒀊𒉺 (a-ap-pa)
- Hungarian: újra- (hu), újjá- (hu)
- Icelandic: endur-
- Ido: ri-
- Interlingua: re-
- Irish: a-, ath-
- Italian: re- (it), ri- (it)
- Japanese: 再- (ja) (sai-), -直す (-naosu), -返す (-kaesu)
- Khmer: វិញ (km) (vɨñ)
- Korean: 재 (ko) (jae), 재 (jae-)
- Kurdish:
- Northern Kurdish: ve- (ku)
- Luwian: 𒀀𒀊𒉺 (a-ap-pa)
- Malayalam: പുനഃ- (punaḥ-)
- Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
- Norman: èr-, re-
- Norwegian: gjen-
- Occitan: re-
- Old English: ed-, aġēn
- Persian: باز- (bâz-)
- Polish: od- (pl), prze- (pl)
- Portuguese: re- (pt)
- Romanian: re- (ro)
- Russian: пере- (ru) (pere-), воз- (ru) (voz-)/вос- (ru) (vos-), ре- (ru) (re-)
- Sanskrit : पुनः- (punaḥ-)
- Scottish Gaelic: ath- (lenites)
- Spanish: re- (es)
- Swedish: åter- (sv), re- (sv), om- (sv)
- Thai: please add this translation if you can
- Turkish: yeniden (tr), tekrar (tr)
- Ukrainian: пере- (pere-), воз- (voz-), ре- (re-), від- (vid-)
- Vietnamese: lại (vi)
- Walloon: ri- (wa), er- (wa), r- (wa)
- Welsh: ail-, eil-, ad-, at-
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References
- “re-”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.