reprise

noun re·prise \ ri-ˈprēz , sense 1 is also -ˈprīz \

Definition of reprise

1 :a deduction or charge made yearly out of a manor or estate —usually used in plural

2 :a recurrence, renewal, or resumption of an action

[French, from Middle French]

a :a musical repetition:

(1) :the repetition of the exposition preceding the development

(2) :recapitulation 3

b :a repeated performance :repetition

See reprise defined for English-language learners

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Examples of reprise in a Sentence

They ended their performance with a reprise of the opening number.
The team is hoping to avoid a reprise of last year's defeat.

Recent Examples of reprise from the Web

Coming on the heels of a deadly clash between white nationalists and counter-protestors in Charlottesville, Va., many feared a reprise in San Francisco.

— katy steinmetz, Time, "A Right-Wing 'Free Speech' Rally Planned for San Francisco Has Been Canceled," 25 Aug. 2017
Fortunately, there’s still space for Connick Jr. to briefly reprise his role.

— ruth kinane, PEOPLE.com, "He's Baaaack! Harry Connick Jr. Returns to the Will & Grace Set," 23 Aug. 2017
The action then immediately pivoted to another bill that also has no realistic chance of success: a reprise of a plan to kill off big parts of the ACA without any replacements.

— amy goldstein, Washington Post, "As Senate starts debate to topple the ACA, even senators don’t know where it will lead," 25 July 2017
Along with the aforementioned chicken, the third is a plate of glistening blood-red agnolotti, a reprise from Balena, stained by beet juice, filled with feather-light ricotta, and dressed with dill and smoked trout roe.

— mike sula, Chicago Reader, "Daisies pushes pasta in a midwestern direction," 19 July 2017
President Trump's travel ban (reprise) Time for a redo.

— editors, USA TODAY, "Mother, yes. Uncle, no. Starting tonight, this is who is allowed in the U.S.," 29 June 2017
In a bizarre reprise of the events 13 years earlier, Kim’s parents had no idea what was happening.

— kathryn joyce, New Republic, "The Silence of the Lambs," 20 June 2017
The Go match—a reprise of the historic match AlphaGo played in Korea last year—was an ideal starting point.

— cade metz, WIRED, "Google Is Already Late to China’s AI Revolution," 2 June 2017
Later chapters offer a reprise of sorts in the voice of Electra, whose heart belongs to daddy but who in matters of revenge is very much her mother’s daughter.

— david wright, The Seattle Times, "Colm Tóibín builds new stories onto a mythic ‘House of Names’," 26 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'reprise.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

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 and 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.

Origin and Etymology of reprise

Middle English, from Anglo-French, seizure, repossession, expense, from feminine past participle of reprendre to take back, from re- + prendre to take, from Latin prehendere

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

See Words from the same year

reprise Synonyms

Synonyms

duplication, iteration, redo, reduplication, reiteration, renewal, repetition, replay, replication, repeat

Related Words

rebroadcast, rerun; recitation, rehearsal

reprise

verb re·prise \ ri-ˈprīz , sense 3 is -ˈprēz \

Definition of reprise

reprised; reprising

transitive verb

1 archaic :take back; especially :to recover by force

2 archaic :compensate

3 a :to repeat the performance of

b :to repeat the principal points or stages of :recapitulate

See reprise defined for English-language learners

Examples of reprise in a Sentence

He will reprise his role in the play.
the prosecutor's closing statement effectively reprised the case against the defendant

Recent Examples of reprise from the Web

Shields is the second new addition confirmed for the upcoming season: Philip Winchester will also join the show, reprising his Chicago Justice character Peter Stone.

— emma dibdin, Country Living, "Brooke Shields Is Joining 'Law & Order: SVU'," 15 Aug. 2017
Throughout its run, New Voyages featured contributions from major Trek players like George Takei (reprising his role as Sulu) and Eugene Roddenberry, Jr. (as a producer).

— nathan mattise, Ars Technica, "Post-Axanar, CBS unveils first official fan filmmaking initiative in Trek history," 7 Aug. 2017
Model Tyra Banks is gearing up to reprise her iconic role as the living doll Eve in the upcoming film Life-Size 2.

— de elizabeth, Allure, "Tyra Banks Asks Lindsay Lohan to Join Her For "Life-Size 2"," 28 July 2017
Efimova came within .01 seconds of Meilutyte’s record in Monday’s semifinals, then wagged her finger afterward, reprising the duel with King from the Rio Olympics.

— david woods, The Courier-Journal, "More gold, and another world record, for Lilly King," 26 July 2017
To explain to a broader audience how weak the .05 statistical threshold really is, Johnson joined with 71 collaborators on the new paper (which partly reprises an argument Johnson made for stricter p-values in a 2013 paper).

— kelly servick, Science | AAAS, "It will be much harder to call new findings ‘significant’ if this team gets its way," 25 July 2017
Yes, that's super-popular video game Portal's Ellen McLain reprising her role as the Jaeger AI voice.

— tom philip, GQ, "Here's Your First Look at Pacific Rim 2," 20 July 2017
Trump was also critical of Mueller, a longtime former FBI director, reprising some of his past complaints that lawyers in his office contributed money to Clinton's campaign.

— the washington post, NOLA.com, "Sen. John McCain diagnosed with brain tumor," 19 July 2017
Also reprising his role is Canadian conductor Alain Trudel.

— janelle gelfand, Cincinnati.com, "Ambitious fare planned for Cincinnati Opera's move back to Music Hall," 14 July 2017