*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of re-

Etymology tree Proto-Italic *wre- Latin re-der. Old French re-bor. Middle English re- English re- From Middle English re-, from Old French re-, from Latin re-, red- (“back; anew; again; against”), see there for more. Dis

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
prefix

again, anew · a completive or intensification of the base; up, a-, out · back, backward

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Italic *wre- Latin re-der. Old French re-bor. Middle English re- English re- From Middle English re-, from Old French re-, from Latin re-, red- (“back; anew; again; against”), see there for more. Displaced native English ed-, eft-, a-, with-/wither-, gain-/again-.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionre-enm
  • Derivation mentionre-fro
  • Derivation mentionre-la
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:re-<ety:bor<fro:re->>",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Italic *wre-\nLatin re-der.\nOld French re-bor.\nMiddle English re-\nEnglish re-\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"der.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Derived from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"again\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Italic\", \"term\" : \"*wre-\", \"lang\" : \"itc-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"re-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old French\", \"term\" : \"re-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"fro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"re-\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"re-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"re-\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "re-"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English re-"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "re-"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French re-"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "re-"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin re-"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:re-<ety:bor<fro:re->>",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Italic *wre-\nLatin re-der.\nOld French re-bor.\nMiddle English re-\nEnglish re-"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*wre-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/wre-#Proto-Italic:_again"
    ],
    [
      "re-",
      "re-#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "re-",
      "re-#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "re-",
      "re-#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "re-",
      "re-#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "re-",
      "re-#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "re-",
      "re-#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "red-",
      "red-#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "ed-",
      "ed-"
    ],
    [
      "eft-",
      "eft-#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "a-",
      "a-"
    ],
    [
      "with-",
      "with-"
    ],
    [
      "wither-",
      "wither-"
    ],
    [
      "gain-",
      "gain-#English"
    ],
    [
      "again-",
      "again-#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "prefix",
      "glosses": [
        "again, anew",
        "a completive or intensification of the base; up, a-, out",
        "back, backward"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "morpheme"
      ],
      "recordId": "979c24e3910e0ea8d8def295cfff9d9bd89183662e554f8c1723ffca2c35b881",
      "rawRecordSha256": "c9072875fe00a3b0927ff7b87bbc6940ae6848f2ab6fb42d02c174513c55c9c7",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 183788
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for re- →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-cmUt