1,400 new words in our dictionary!Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary!More

Word of the Day:

December 5, 2015

repair

verb rih-PAIR

What it Means

1 : to betake oneself : go

2 : to come together : rally

Repair in Context

"… so we repaired to a publick-house, took a friendly glass, and thus parted." — Peter Drake, Amiable Renegade: The Memoirs of Captain Peter Drake, 1671–1753, 1960

"… Warren repaired to the dining alcove off the kitchen … and ate dinner with Nina and the children, discussing their schoolwork and events of the day." — Kevin Starr, Embattled Dreams, 2002

More example sentences

Did You Know?

We are all familiar with the verb repair used as a synonym of fix. But today's word, while it is a homograph and a homophone of the more familiar repair, is a slightly older and unrelated verb. Repair, the synonym of fix, comes via Anglo-French from the Latin reparare, a combination of the re- prefix and parare ("prepare"). Repair, the synonym of go (which in English also once meant "to return"), has Anglo-French and Latin roots too, but makes its way back to the Late Latin repatriare (which means "to go home again" and is a source of the English repatriate). Repatriare combines the re- prefix with patria, the Latin word for "native country."

Test Your Memory

What former Word of the Day refers to the study of the origin and forms of proper names?

View the Answer
Daily Challenge

Want to listen to the Word of the Day instead?