reprise

1 of 2

noun

re·​prise ri-ˈprēz 

sense 3 is also

ri-ˈprīz 

1

[French, from Middle French]

a

: a musical repetition:

(1)

: the repetition of the exposition preceding the development

(2)

: recapitulation sense 3

b

: a repeated performance : repetition

2

: a recurrence, renewal, or resumption of an action

3

: a deduction or charge made yearly out of a manor or estate

—usually used in plural

reprise

2 of 2

verb

re·​prise ri-ˈprīz 

sense 1 is

ri-ˈprēz 

reprised; reprising

transitive verb

1

a

: to repeat the performance of

will reprise his role in the play

b

: to repeat the principal points or stages of : recapitulate

2

archaic : take back

especially : to recover by force

3

archaic : compensate

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.

Synonyms of reprise

Noun

• repeat
• repetition
• replay

Verb

• summarize
• outline

Examples of reprise in a Sentence

Noun

They ended their performance with a reprise of the opening number.

The team is hoping to avoid a reprise of last year's defeat.

Verb

He will reprise his role in the play.

the prosecutor's closing statement effectively reprised the case against the defendant

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Trump did not clarify if tests would be full-scale explosive ones breaking a decades-long moratorium and pointing to a reprise of the Cold War suspicions that had previously brought adversaries to the brink of World War Three. —Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2025

Could he be persuaded to do a Tom Felton and reprise a Harry Potter role on Broadway? —Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 24 Nov. 2025

Verb

Pitt will reprise his role from that movie as fictional 1960s stunt man Cliff Booth in an upcoming spinoff written by Tarantino and directed by David Fincher (The Killer, Se7en), set for release sometime in 2026. —Tommy McArdle, PEOPLE, 3 Dec. 2025

Loughlin, an original cast member, will reprise her role as Abigail Stanton and will appear in six of the 12 episodes set for the upcoming season, which was officially confirmed on Tuesday. —Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 2 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

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

Verb

Middle English, from Middle French repris, past participle of reprendre

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for reprise

• advise
• applies
• apprise
• arise
• assize
• baptize
• belies
• bitwise
• capsize
• chastise
• chordwise
• clockwise

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