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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.
Synonyms
Examples of reprise in a Sentence
Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 26 Aug. 2024
Can’t imagine there’s a reprise of that performance coming.
—Parker Gabriel, The Denver Post, 11 Sep. 2024
Glenn Garner, Deadline, 18 Nov. 2024
Todd reprised his role in the new entry, which starred Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as an artist who becomes drawn into the Candyman legend.
—Variety, NBC News, 9 Nov. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near reprise
Cite this Entry
“Reprise.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reprise. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
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