reply
[ri-plahy]
- to make answer in words or writing; answer; respond: to reply to a question.
- to respond by some action, performance, etc.: to reply to the enemy's fire.
- to return a sound; echo; resound.
- Law. to answer a defendant's plea.
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- to return as an answer (usually used in a negative combination or followed by a clause with that): Not a syllable did he reply. He replied that no one would go.
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- an answer or response in words or writing.
- a response made by some action, performance, etc.
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Origin of reply
1350–1400; Middle English replien (v.) < Middle French replier to fold back, reply < Latin replicāre to unroll, fold back; see replicate
Synonyms
See more synonyms for reply on Thesaurus.com1. rejoin. 6. rejoinder, riposte.
Synonym study
6. See answer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for reply
Contemporary Examples
“Every critic encounters one book like that,” was his reply.
Johnson testified that he was the only one to reply, telling the cop that they were almost to where they were going.
He has received no reply from the government to the complaint he sent.
“I had not the most remote notion of what a wonderful man he was,” Darwin wrote of Aristotle in his reply to Ogle.
They received a letter of reply saying their help was very welcome, and to come down and pay them a visit.
‘Pride’: The Feel-Good Movie of the Year, and the Film Rupert Murdoch Doesn’t Want You to SeeMarlow Stern
October 13, 2014
Historical Examples
If it were not so, his hand would have written in reply to thy kind epistle.
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
"Certainly, Robert," was the reply, but the lawyer's manner showed some surprise.
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
"You'll find I'm right, sir," was the reply of the traveller who spoke first.
Silence was painful to me, and reply only accumulated difficulty and vexation.
This question was addressed to the lady, who drew back, and made no reply.
reply
- to make answer (to) in words or writing or by an action; respondhe replied with an unexpected move
- (tr; takes a clause as object) to say (something) in answerhe replied that he didn't want to come
- law to answer a defendant's plea
- to return (a sound); echo
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- an answer made in words or writing or through an action; response
- the answer made by a plaintiff or petitioner to a defendant's case
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French replier to fold again, reply, from Latin replicāre to fold back, from re- + plicāre to fold
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for reply
v.
late 14c., "to make an answer," from Old French replier "to reply, turn back," from Late Latin replicare "to reply, repeat," in classical Latin "fold back, fold over, bend back," from re- "back, again" (see re-) + plicare "to fold" (see ply (v.1)). Latin literal sense of "to fold back" is attested from mid-15c. in English but is not now used. Modern French répliquer (Middle French replier) is directly from Late Latin. Related: Replied; replying.
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n.
1550s, from reply (v.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper