reply

English

Etymology

From Middle English replyen, replien, borrowed from Old French replier (“to reply”), from the Latin replicō, replicāre (“to fold back”) (in Late or Medieval Latin "to reply, repeat"), from re + plicō (“to fold”); the noun derives from the verb by nominalisation. Doublet of replicate and replica.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɹɪˈplaɪ/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Hyphenation: re‧ply
  • Rhymes: -aɪ

Verb

reply (third-person singular simple present replies, present participle replying, simple past and past participle replied)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To give a written or spoken response, especially to a question, request, accusation or criticism; to answer.
    • 2021 March 19, Gary Kamiya, “One of San Francisco’s strangest buildings was a mash-up masterpiece”, in San Francisco Chronicle‎[1], archived from the original on 27 April 2026:
      When an East Coast industrialist who wanted [Willis] Polk to design a building told the architect that he admired his work, Polk replied, “I would feel complimented if I thought you knew anything about art.”
    (intransitive) Please reply to my letter.
    (transitive) "Sorry I'm late," replied the student.
    (transitive) He replied that he was not sure.
  2. (intransitive) To act or gesture in response.
    Joanne replied to Pete's insult with a slap to his face.
    • 1988, Emmanuel Doe Ziorklui, Ghana: Nkrumah to Rawlings:
      It is a sound to be dreaded until you ascertain that it is being made by friendly forces; even then, your welcome to it must be tempered with some caution, because gunfire usually leads to replying gunfire […]
    • 2012, Steve Cowens, Steel City Rivals:
      […] bulged the onion bag for the Blades, and Downes and Prendergast replied for the Owls.
  3. (intransitive) To repeat something back; to echo.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun

reply (plural replies)

  1. A written or spoken response; part of a conversation.
    • 1986, Terry Pratchett, The Light Fantastic, published 2022, page 12:
      For example, it is said that someone at a party once asked the famous philosopher Ly Tin Weedle ‘Why are you here?’ And the reply took three years.
  2. Something given in reply.
  3. A counterattack.
  4. (music) The answer of a figure.
  5. (US, law) A document written by a party specifically replying to a responsive declaration and in some cases an answer.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Derived terms

Anagrams

This page is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.