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. 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
Jared Ranahan, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2025
On Wednesday, the Department of Energy announced a review of its procedures for energy standards, which one expert described as a reprise of the first Trump administration’s attempts to create procedural hurdles to updating efficiency standards.
—Peter Elkind, ProPublica, 11 Apr. 2025
Nancy Tartaglione, Deadline, 18 June 2025
The main cast is reprising their roles for the sophomore installment, including Kristine Froseth, Alisha Boe, Aubri Ibrag, Josie Totah and Imogen Waterhouse.
—Monica Mercuri, Forbes.com, 18 June 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 2 Jul. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share