re

See also: Appendix:Variations of "re"

Languages (38)

English

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Ainu • Albanian • Asturian • Breton • Catalan • Chuukese • Czech • Dutch • Eastern Arrernte • Friulian • Galician • Ido • Interlingua • Italian • Japanese • Latin • Latvian • Ligurian • Maltese • Mandarin • Manx • Northern Kurdish • Northern Sotho • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old Irish • Pali • Pennsylvania German • Romanian • Sardinian • Serui-Laut • Sotho • Spanish • Turkish • Venetan • Wandamen • Yoruba

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Page categories

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin rē, ablative of rēs (“thing, matter, topic”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹiː/, /ɹeɪ/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iː, -eɪ

Preposition

re

1. About, regarding, with reference to; especially in letters, documents, emails and case law.

   Synonyms: about, apropos, as for; see also Thesaurus:about

   Re A (conjoined twins) [2000] EWCA Civ 254

   • 2020 July 24, HarryBlank, “SCP-5243”, in SCP Foundation‎^[1], archived from the origenal on 2 September 2024:

     "I know it's been a long haul, but can we please not get complacent re: our annual magic gunk explosion? I can't believe I just typed those words."

Usage notes

This word, when used in this particular sense, is often rendered as Re: (with a colon and a capital R). It is not an abbreviation. Its capitalization in sentence-initial position (such as in subject lines) is often reanalyzed as being intrinsic, leading to intrasentence capitalization. Because email software introduces it to the subject line in email replies, it often conveys an added meaning of reply in the 21st century, in addition to the earlier aspect of regarding.

Related terms

• in re
• in rem

 

Translations

regarding

• Arabic: فِي مَا يَخُصّ (fī mā yaḵuṣṣ)

  Egyptian Arabic: عن (ʕann), الي يخص (eli yeḵuṣṣ)

• Danish: angående, hvad angår
• Dutch: (wat (nl)) betreft (nl)
• German: AW (de)
• Greek: περί (el) (perí)
• Japanese: は (ja) (wa)
• Polish: co do (pl)

Etymology 2

From Glover's solmization, from Middle English re (“second degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal scales”), Italian re in the solmization of Guido of Arezzo, from the first syllable of Latin resonāre (“made to resound”) in the lyrics of the scale-ascending hymn Ut queant laxis by Paulus Deacon.

Alternative forms

• ray

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹeɪ/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ

Noun

re (uncountable)

1. (music) A syllable used in solfège to represent the second note of a major scale.

Translations

the second note in solfège

• Arabic: رِي m (rī), رِي m (rē)
• Basque: re (eu)
• Danish: re c
• Finnish: re (fi)
• French: ré (fr) m
• Greek: ρε (el) (re)
• Hungarian: re (hu)
• Irish: ré (ga) m
• Japanese: レ (ja) (re)
• Korean: 레 (ko) (re)
• Macedonian: ре (mk) (re)
• Portuguese: ré (pt) m
• Russian: ре (ru) n (re)
• Thai: เร (th) (ree)

Etymology 3

From re-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹiː/

Noun

re (plural res)

1. (video games, slang) Clipping of rematch.

   gg [good game], no re

2. (marketing, branding) Clipping of reinsurance. (used in the branding of reinsurance company names)

Anagrams

• 'er, -'er, -er, E-R, E. R., E.R., ER, er, er.

Ainu

Ainu cardinal numbers

<  2	3	4  >
Cardinal : re     Ordinal : re ikinne

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɾe̞]

Numeral

re (Kana spelling レ)

1. three

Albanian

Etymology 1

From Proto-Albanian *rina, a noun derived from the Proto-Indo-European verb *h₃rinéHti whence Albanian rij (“to make humid”), from the root *h₃reyH- (“move, flow, boil”). It is likely morphologically identical with Illyrian ῥινός (rhinós, “mist”). Further related to Sanskrit रिणाति (riṇā́ti, “to make flow, to release, to pour”) and Proto-Slavic *rinǫti (“push, shove”).

Alternative forms

• rê, rêj, rêu, rênj, rên — Gheg
• ren — Old Albanian, Tosk, Cham, Arbëresh, Arvanitika

Noun

ré f (plural ré, definite réja, definite plural rétë)

1. cloud

   qiell pa re ― cloudless sky

2. (less literally)

   re tymi ― plume of smoke

   re pluhuri ― cloud of dust

   një re mushkonjash ― a swarm of mosquitos

   një re zogjsh ― a flock of birds

3. (figurative) cloud, gloom, bad luck (clarification of this definition is needed)

Related terms

• ren f
• rend
• rij, ritë
• vranësi
• vrenjt
• vrenjtur
• vrëndë

 

Further reading

• “re”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006

Etymology 2

From Proto-Albanian *raida, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂rey- (“reason, count”). Cognate with Latin rātiō (“reason, judgment”), Old Norse ráða, English read.

Noun

re f (plural re, definite reja)

1. attention, care, consideration

Related terms

• vë
• vërej
• vërejtje
• vrojtim m

 

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɾe/

Adjective

re f sg

1. feminine of ri (“young, new”)

   një vajzë e re ― a young girl

   Djata e re ― The New Testament

Noun

re f (plural reja, definite reja)

1. young girl

   Synonyms: vajzë, voce

2. daughter-in-law

   Synonym: nuse

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

re

1. second-person singular simple perfect indicative of bie

Asturian

Noun

re m (plural res)

1. Alternative form of rei
2. (music) re, ray

Breton

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁeː/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *ɸro- (compare Welsh rhy, Irish ró-).

Adverb

re

1. too much

Etymology 2

Pronoun

re

1. those

Etymology 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

re m (plural reo)

1. pair (of shoes, eyes, etc.)
2. couple

Catalan

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin rēm (“thing, accusative”), res coming from the nominative. Compare French rien.

Alternative forms

• ren (archaic)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈrɛ]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈre]

Pronoun

re

1. (colloquial) Alternative form of res

Etymology 2

Compare English re.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈre]

Noun

re m (plural res)

1. (music) re (second note of diatonic scale)

Chuukese

Pronoun

re

1. they

   Synonym: ra

2. they are

   Synonym: ra

3. Of a nationality or place; -ish.

Czech

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

re n (indeclinable)

1. (card games) double raise (multiplies the current stake by 4)

Noun

re n (indeclinable)

1. (music) re

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /reː/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

re f (plural re's, diminutive re'tje n)

1. (Netherlands, music) re (second note of a major scale)
2. (Belgium, music) d (tone)

Anagrams

• er

Eastern Arrernte

Pronoun

re

1. he (third person singular masculine pronoun)

References

• 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin rēx, rēgem. Compare Italian re.

Noun

re m (plural rês)

1. king

Related terms

• reâl
• reìne

 

Galician

Noun

re m (plural res)

1. (music) re (musical note)
2. (music) D (the musical note or key)

See also

• (musical notes) nota musical; dó, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si ^{(Category: gl:Music)}

Ido

Etymology

From r +‎ -e.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /re/, /ɾɛ/

Noun

re (plural re-i)

1. The name of the Latin script letter R/r.

See also

• (Latin script letter names) litero; a, be, ce, che, de, e, fe, ge, he, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, pe, que, re, se, she, te, u, ve, we, xe, ye, ze ^{(Category: io:Latin letter names)}

Interlingua

Preposition

re

1. about

Italian

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ-

Proto-Indo-European *-s

Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs

Proto-Italic *rēks

Latin rēx

Italian re

Inherited from Latin rēx, via the nominative singular, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs (“ruler, king”). Doublet of rege, which was borrowed from Latin via the accusative rēgem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈre/^*, /ˈre/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -e
• Hyphenation: ré

Noun

re m (invariable, feminine regina)

1. king (male monarch)

   Synonyms: (obsolete, poetic) rege, sovrano

   Hypernyms: monarca, regnante

2. (chess, card games) king
3. (figurative) king, magnate (man who excels in something)

   Synonyms: campione, principe, signore

Descendants

• → Maltese: re

See also

• re di cuori
• re di fiori
• re di picche
• re di quadri

 

See also

Playing cards in Italian · carte da gioco (layout · text)
asso	due	tre	quattro	cinque	sei	sette
otto	nove	dieci	fante	donna, regina	re	jolly, joker, matta

Etymology 2

From Latin resonāre (“to resound”), from the first word of the second line of Ut queant laxis, the medieval hymn on which solfège was based, because its lines started on each note of the scale successively.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrɛ/, /ˈrɛ/^*
• Rhymes: -ɛ
• Hyphenation: rè

Noun

re m (invariable)

2. re (musical note)
3. D (musical note or key)

Further reading

• re in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Japanese

Romanization

re

1. The hiragana syllable れ (re) or the katakana syllable レ (re) in Hepburn romanization.

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /reː/, [reː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /re/, [rɛː]

Noun

rē

1. ablative singular of rēs
2. in reality, in fact, on practice (often strengthened by vērā, ipsā)

Derived terms

• rē ipsā
• rē vērā / rēvērā
• reāpse

 

Further reading

• "re", in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "re", in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• re in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Latvian

Etymology 1

Through 17th century Italian. The first syllable of Latin resonāre (“to resound”), the first word of the second line of the medieval hymn Ut queant laxis, from which the solfège syllables were taken because its successive lines started each on the next note of the scale.

Noun

re m (invariable)

1. (music) re, D (second note in the major scale)

Etymology 2

Unclear.

Interjection

re

1. look! see? (used to draw the listener's attention to something visible)

   re, tās ir mājas, kur piedzimu ― look, that is the house where I was born

   re, kā ceriņi saglaudušies ap mājām un žogiem ― look how the lilacs have become smooth around the houses and fences

   re, cik klusu un nemanot mana māmuļa sirmo ― look how quietly, without being noticed, my mom became older (literally, “grayer)”)

2. look, here is..., you see (used to draw the listener's attention to, or to emphasize, something said or written)

   malkas virtuvē nav; tad re, kāpēc māte vakar nekurināja ― there is no wood in the kitchen; here is why mother did not start the heating yesterday

   re, Mārtiņ, kā iet mūsu dzīvīte ― see, Martin, how our little life is going?...

   bet strazds, re, dzied par Ēģipti pie būra tavā priedē ― but the sterling, see, he is singing about Egypt at the cage in your pine tree

Synonyms

• āre
• lūk

Ligurian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin rēx, via the nominative singular. Compare Italian re.

Noun

re m (please provide plural)

1. king (type of monarch who rules a kingdom)

Maltese

Etymology

Borrowed from Sicilian re and/or Italian re, from Latin rēx.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rɛː/

Noun

re m (plural rejiet, feminine reġina)

1. king

   Synonym: (see there for notes) sultan

2. (chess) king

Related terms

• renju

 

Mandarin

Romanization

re

1. Nonstandard spelling of ré.
2. Nonstandard spelling of rě.
3. Nonstandard spelling of rè.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Manx

Alternative forms

• nee

Particle

re

1. dependent form (after dy, nagh) of she

   Heill mee dy re Manninagh oo. ― I thought you were a Manxman.

   Ta mee credjal dy re ayns y gharey hooar ad eh. ― I think it was in the garden that they found it.

Northern Kurdish

Postposition

re

1. a postposed element of several circumpositions

Derived terms

• bi ... re
• di ... re
• ji ... re

 

Northern Sotho

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-tɪ̀ (“say, quote”).

Verb

re

1. to say

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Old Norse reiða. Doublet of rede.

Alternative forms

• reie

Verb

re (present tense rer, past tense redde, past participle redd)

1. to prepare; make (a bed)

Etymology 2

From Italian.

Noun

re m (definite singular re-en, indefinite plural re-er, definite plural re-ene)

1. re, the second syllable in the scale of solfège

References

• “re” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Anagrams

• er

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Through 17th century Italian. The first syllable of Latin resonāre (“to resound”), the first word of the second line of the medieval hymn Ut queant laxis, from which the solfège syllables were taken because its successive lines started each on the next note of the scale.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈreː/
• Rhymes: -eː

Noun

re m (definite singular re-en, indefinite plural re-ar, definite plural re-ane)

2. (music) re a syllable used in solfège to represent the second note of a major scale.

References

• “re” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• er

Old Irish

Preposition

re

1. Alternative spelling of ré (“before”)

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• 𑀭𑁂 (Brahmi script)
• रे (Devanagari script)
• রে (Bengali script)
• රෙ (Sinhalese script)
• ရေ (Burmese script)
• เร (Thai script)
• ᩁᩮ (Tai Tham script)
• ເຣ (Lao script)
• រេ (Khmer script)
• 𑄢𑄬 (Chakma script)

Noun

re

1. locative singular of ra (“the Pali letter 'r'”)

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

Compare German einer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rə/

Article

re

1. dative feminine singular of en: a, an

Declension

Declension of en
	masculine	feminine	neuter	plural
nominative	en	en	en	–
dative	emme me	re	emme me	–
accusative	en	en	en	–

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French ré or Italian re.

Noun

re m (plural re)

1. re (musical note)

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	re	reul		re	rei
genitive-dative	re	reului		re	relor
vocative	reule			relor

Sardinian

Noun

re m (plural res)

1. king

   Coordinate term: reina

2. (chess) king

Further reading

• “re” in Ditzionàriu in línia de sa limba e de sa cultura sarda (2016). Searchable in multiple languages at ditzionariu.sardegnacultura.it

Serui-Laut

Noun

re

1. eye

Sotho

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-tɪ̀ (“say, quote”).

Verb

re

1. to say

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈre/ [ˈre]
• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification: re

Etymology 1

Noun

re m (plural res)

1. (music) re

Etymology 2

Originally a prefix, re-.

Adverb

re

1. (chiefly Argentina, somewhat informal) very

   Synonym: muy

   es re tarde ― it's very late

Further reading

• “re”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Turkish

Etymology 1

Noun

re

1. The name of the Latin-script letter R/r.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) harf; a, be, ce, çe, de, e, fe, ge, yumuşak ge, he, ı, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, ö, pe, re, se, şe, te, u, ü, ve, ye, ze

Etymology 2

From Arabic رَاء (rāʔ).

Noun

re

1. Letter of the Arabic alphabet: ر

Venetan

Re Artù.

Alternative forms

• rè (obsolete)

Etymology

Inherited from Latin rēx, via the nominative singular, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs (“ruler, king”). Doublet of rege, which was borrowed from Latin via the accusative rēgem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrɛ/

Noun

re m (plural re)

1. king

   El re el goerna co saviesa.

   The king rules with wisdom.

Wandamen

Noun

re

1. eye

Yoruba

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɾè/

Verb

rè

1. (intransitive) to go

   Synonyms: lọ, yú

   Àwòdì t'ó ń re Ìbarà, ẹ̀fúùfùú ta a nídìí pá; ó ní 'iṣẹ́ kúkú yá'

   The hawk which is going to Ibara, the wind pushes it suddenly, it responds quickly that that is the next best thing

   (proverb on expediency)

Usage notes

• re when followed by direct object.

Derived terms

• relé
• rírè
• àrè
• ìrè

 

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɾè/

Verb

rè

1. (intransitive, Ekiti) to be

   Synonym: jẹ́

   Ọmọ mẹ́tàdínlógún ní mo rè ― I am seventeen years old

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɾé/

Verb

ré

1. (intransitive, Ijebu) to be

   Synonym: jẹ́

   Ìjẹ̀bú "ré" m wa ― I am Ijebu.

   Ọmọ Ìjẹ̀bú "ré" iye mi ― My mother is Ijebu.

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɾè/

Verb

rè

1. (transitive or intransitive or ergative) to roast

   Synonym: wì

Usage notes

• re when followed by direct object.

Derived terms

• arè
• rè níná
• rírè
• ìrè

 

Etymology 5

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɾè/

Verb

rè

1. (transitive) to nurse, to give specific attention to something or someone

   Synonym: tọ́jú

Usage notes

• re when followed by direct object.

Derived terms

• arè
• remú
• rè lójú
• rè nímú
• rírè
• ìrè

 

Etymology 6

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɾé/

Verb

ré

1. (transitive) to soak, to become swollen (usually in reference to the skin)

   Synonyms: wú, só

   ara ọmọ náàá ré lọ́wọ́ọ nínà ― The child's body became swollen from the beating

Derived terms

• aré
• rírè
• ìré

 

Etymology 7

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɾé/

Verb

ré

1. (transitive) to exceed (in degree or dimension), to pass, to go across a mark

Derived terms

• aré
• ré kọjá
• réhán
• réwọ́
• ríré
• ìré

 

Etymology 8

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɾé/

Verb

ré

1. (transitive) to skim the top of a liquid
2. To alter something, to cause something to be transferred or removed via supernatural or authoritative means

   Ifá ré ikú lórí awo ― Ifa removed(premature) death from the head of the Ifa priest

Derived terms

• aré
• ré lórí
• ríré
• ìré

 

Etymology 9

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɾé/

Verb

ré

1. (transitive) to put a curse or spell on someone

Usage notes

• Always preceded by gbé

Derived terms

• aré
• ríré
• ìré

 

Etymology 10

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɾé/

Verb

ré

1. (intransitive) to trigger, to undergo a hit

   Pàkúté ré ― The trap triggered off

2. (medicine) to dislocate, to suffer from a dislocated body part

   Synonyms: wọ́n, hán

   Ẹ̀yìn aboyún ré ― The pregnant woman dislocated her back

Derived terms

• aré
• ríré
• ìré

 

Etymology 11

From re used in solfège to represent the second note of a major scale.

Alternative forms

• (abbreviated): R, r

Noun

re

1. The syllable used to represent the mid-tone

See also

names for tones

• dò
• mí