Link Centre Dictionary

reprieve

rep·rieve

UK/ɹɪˈpɹiːv/ US/riˈpriv/ uncommon obsolete

noun

1.

a (temporary) relief from harm or discomfort

Synonyms
3.
4.

the act of reprieving; postponing or remitting punishment

Synonyms

verb

1.

postpone the punishment of a convicted criminal, such as an execution

Synonyms

Origin

First use appears c. 1513 in the writings of Robert Fabyan. In the sense of “to take back to prison”, from Middle English repryen (“to remand, detain”) (1494), possibly from Middle French repris, in the form of reprendre (“take back”); a cognate to reprise. The sense has become generalized, but does retain connotations of punishment and execution. The noun's first use appears c. 1592.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.