reprieve
verb/rɪˈpriːv/
/rɪˈpriːv/
[usually passive] not usually used in the progressive tensesVerb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they reprieve | /rɪˈpriːv/ /rɪˈpriːv/ |
| he / she / it reprieves | /rɪˈpriːvz/ /rɪˈpriːvz/ |
| past simple reprieved | /rɪˈpriːvd/ /rɪˈpriːvd/ |
| past participle reprieved | /rɪˈpriːvd/ /rɪˈpriːvd/ |
| -ing form reprieving | /rɪˈpriːvɪŋ/ /rɪˈpriːvɪŋ/ |
- reprieve somebody to officially cancel or delay a punishment for a prisoner who is condemned to death
- a reprieved murderer
- reprieve something to officially cancel or delay plans to close something or end something
- 70 jobs have been reprieved until next April.
Word Originlate 15th cent. (as the past participle repryed): from Anglo-Norman French repris, past participle of reprendre, from Latin re- ‘back’ + prehendere ‘seize’. The insertion of -v- (16th cent.) remains unexplained. Sense development has undergone a reversal, from the early meaning ‘send back to prison’, via ‘postpone a legal process’, to the current sense ‘rescue from impending punishment’.
Check pronunciation:
reprieve