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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.
Synonyms
Examples of reprise in a Sentence
Rebecca Grapevine, The Courier-Journal, 26 Mar. 2024
After Dalton meets Ellie (Daniela Melchior), a reprise of Kelly Lynch’s doctor-slash-romantic-interest from the original, Road House slips into a groove.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 9 Mar. 2024
Johns continued to establish her career throughout the 50s, gaining notoriety in England with films including State Secret, The Magic Box, and Mad About Men, which saw her reprise the role of Miranda.
—Shania Russell, EW.com, 4 Jan. 2024
The pair both get a second chance to make things right during the reprise of their conversation in 2019's Rise of Skywalker, which inspires Driver's character to give up his allegiance to the Dark Side.
—Emlyn Travis, EW.com, 1 Dec. 2023
Apparently Ricci’s chopping skills have landed her a reprise of her starring role.
—Lauren Beale, Miami Herald, 31 Jan. 2024
The couple escaped unharmed, but — in a reprise of the riot last February — settlers swept into the town to carry out retaliatory attacks.
—Roger Cohen, New York Times, 31 Jan. 2024
Yet this reprise felt more like a refresh — a welcome reminder of the unique pleasures of the double concerto.
—Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post, 4 Dec. 2023
The effort was a reprise of a visit by Blinken last month, just days after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
—Michael Birnbaum, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2023
Brent Lang, Variety, 10 Apr. 2024
Along with Gaga and Phoenix, the film boasts a stacked supporting cast of Zazie Beetz (reprising her role from the original film), Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Steve Coogan, Jacob Lofland, Ken Leung, and Harry Lawtey.
—Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 9 Apr. 2024
Noting that success, in 2023 TAG Heuer reprised the Skipper in the new Carrera Glassbox design.
—Allen Farmelo, Robb Report, 9 Apr. 2024
She is expected to reprise her role of Gwen Stacy for the final of Sony Pictures Animation’s Spider-Verse installments, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, currently in production.
—Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Apr. 2024
While the entire cast has not yet been announced, Poehler is returning as Joy, Phyllis Smith is slated to reprise her role of Sadness and Lewis Black is set to return as Anger.
—Jillian Pretzel, Peoplemag, 8 Apr. 2024
In addition to those onscreen credits, Knight also reprised his Seinfeld role in a 2020 anti-Trump ad.
—Dustin Nelson, EW.com, 4 Apr. 2024
Lohan and Curtis are expected to reprise their daughter and mother roles in Freaky Friday 2.
—Tim Lammers, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
Bruckheimer told The Sunday Times back in 2022 that Johnny Depp, who played Captain Jack Sparrow in all five previous movies, was unlikely to reprise the character.
—Katherine Itoh, NBC News, 26 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'reprise.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near reprise
Cite this Entry
“Reprise.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reprise. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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