Did you know?
When reprise was first adopted into English in the 15th century, it referred to a deduction or charge made yearly out of a manor or estate (and was usually used in the plural form reprises). It probably won't surprise you, then, to learn that reprise comes from an Anglo-French word meaning "seizure, repossession, or expense." Eventually, reprise came to refer to any action that was repeated or resumed. A later sense, borrowed from modern French, applies to specific types of repetition in musical compositions. That sense was eventually generalized to describe any subsequent and identical performance. It's possible, for example, to have a reprise of a television program or a book.
Examples of reprise in a Sentence
Jennifer Maas, Variety, 7 June 2026
Bavier declined to reprise her role in Return to Mayberry due to poor health.
—Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 7 June 2026
Starring in Raimi’s original trilogy, which included The Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead II (1987) and Army of Darkness (1993), Campbell briefly reprised his role as Ash for a post-credits cameo in Fede Álvarez’s 2013 reboot.
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 6 June 2026
Next up, Galitzine will be reprising his role in the Royal sequel, Red, White & Royal Wedding.
—Keith Langston, PEOPLE, 6 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for reprise
Cite this Entry
“Reprise.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reprise. Accessed 9 Jun. 2026.
Copy Citation
