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When reprise was first adopted into English in the 15th century, it referred to a deduction or charge made yearly out of a manor or estate (and was usually used in the plural form reprises). It probably won't surprise you, then, to learn that reprise comes from an Anglo-French word meaning "seizure, repossession, or expense." Eventually, reprise came to refer to any action that was repeated or resumed. A later sense, borrowed from modern French, applies to specific types of repetition in musical compositions. That sense was eventually generalized to describe any subsequent and identical performance. It's possible, for example, to have a reprise of a television program or a book.
Examples of reprise in a Sentence
Paul Grein, Billboard, 13 Nov. 2025
Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher and Morgan Freeman reprise their roles, while Ariana Greenblatt and Rosamund Pike are among the franchise newcomers.
—Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 12 Nov. 2025
Miles Socha, Footwear News, 12 Nov. 2025
After Meryl Streep’s character enters the elevator, Anne Hathaway — who reprises her role as Andy Sachs from the original 2006 film — joins her just before the doors close.
—Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 12 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for reprise
Cite this Entry
“Reprise.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reprise. Accessed 16 Nov. 2025.
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