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reciprocate

[ri-sip-ruh-keyt]
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verb (used with object), re·cip·ro·cat·ed, re·cip·ro·cat·ing.
  1. to give, feel, etc., in return.
  2. to give and receive reciprocally; interchange: to reciprocate favors.
  3. to cause to move alternately backward and forward.
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verb (used without object), re·cip·ro·cat·ed, re·cip·ro·cat·ing.
  1. to make a return, as for something given.
  2. to make interchange.
  3. to be correspondent.
  4. to move alternately backward and forward.
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Origin of reciprocate

1605–15; < Latin reciprocātus past participle of reciprocāre to move back and forth. See reciprocal, -ate1
Related formsre·cip·ro·ca·tive, re·cip·ro·ca·to·ry [ri-sip-ruh-kuh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] /rɪˈsɪp rə kəˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i/, adjectivere·cip·ro·ca·tor, nounnon·re·cip·ro·cat·ing, adjectiveun·re·cip·ro·cat·ed, adjectiveun·re·cip·ro·cat·ing, adjective

Synonyms

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1. return, respond, retaliate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

unrequitedunreciprocatedunreturned

Examples from the Web for unreciprocated

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Love undenied, may end in friendship; but love thwarted or unreciprocated, never!

    The Maroon

    Mayne Reid

  • I tried to ignore the injury to Margaret of her unreciprocated advances.

    The New Machiavelli

    Herbert George Wells

  • Her tears flowed silently, but she was far from unhappy; love, even unknown and unreciprocated, brings its own sweet reward.

    The Award of Justice

    A. Maynard Barbour

  • Suez has ruined our shipping interests; an unreciprocated free trade is ruining our commerce.

    Mount Royal, Volume 3 of 3

    Mary Elizabeth Braddon

  • The frequency of Cornelia's visits to the palace on following days seemed to prove that the admiration was not unreciprocated.

    A Friend of Caesar

    William Stearns Davis

British Dictionary definitions for unreciprocated

reciprocate

verb
  1. to give or feel in return
  2. to move or cause to move backwards and forwards
  3. (intr) to be correspondent or equivalent
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Derived Formsreciprocation, nounreciprocative or reciprocatory, adjectivereciprocator, noun

Word Origin

C17: from Latin reciprocāre, from reciprocus reciprocal
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for unreciprocated

reciprocate

v.

"to return, requite," 1610s, back-formation from reciprocation, or else from Latin reciprocatus, past participle of reciprocare "rise and fall, move back and forth; reverse the motion of," from reciprocus (see reciprocal). Related: Reciprocated; reciprocating.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper