reprise
Americannoun
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Law. Usually reprises. an annual deduction, duty, or payment out of a manor or estate, as an annuity or the like.
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Music.
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a repetition.
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a return to the first theme or subject.
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verb (used with object)
noun
verb
Etymology
Origin of reprise
1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French: a taking back, Old French, noun use of feminine past participle of reprendre to take back < Latin reprehendere to reprehend
Explanation
Reprise means "repeat an earlier role." If you’re asked to reprise your role as "kid entertainer" at the annual family reunion, that means people want you to do it again this year. Early on, reprise was a part in a song or other musical composition that is repeated. The word still carries that meaning, but now it's more likely to be used as a verb to describe an action or part that is repeated, often a performance. For example, if you played a role in a wildly successful film that is going to have a sequel, you would reprise your role. The word comes from the French word repris, meaning "take back."
Vocabulary lists containing reprise
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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This Week In Popular Culture: August 17–23, 2019
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This Week In Culture: August 1–6, 2020
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But Mr. Ostin became frustrated by Sinatra’s aversion to rock music and moved over to Warner, which had purchased Reprise.
From Washington Post • Aug. 2, 2022
When Sinatra instead formed his own company, Reprise, he brought in Ostin to run it.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 2, 2022
In a public statement last week, Young thanked his record label, Reprise Records, a division of the Warner Music Group, as well as his music publishers, for standing by him.
From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2022
It appears that slim to none of the lingering tracks, however, were distributed by Reprise or its parent label Warner Records — which supported the singer-songwriters’ move to boycott Spotify.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 31, 2022
The Term Reprise signifies a succession of Thrusts without Interval, or with very little.
From The Art of Fencing The Use of the Small Sword by Mahon, Andrew
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
