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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
Peter Elkind, ProPublica, 11 Apr. 2025
President Biden’s term has been a notable exception, but a reprise may be coming.
—Gabe Rottman, The Mercury News, 10 Jan. 2025
Monica Mercuri, Forbes.com, 24 May 2025
Chris Sanders reprises his role as the voice of Stitch.
—Ralphie Aversa, USA Today, 23 May 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 28 May. 2025.
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