repose

/ɹɪˈpəʊz/

//ɹɪˈpəʊz// verb

"repose" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“repose” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #39,529 in English word frequency and used as a verb.

#39,529
frequency rank, English
6
letters
8
tracked misspellings
17
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To lay (someone, or part of their body) down to rest.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

repose vs rose
67% similar
repose vs reps
67% similar
repose vs reuse
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for repose
PropertyValue
Headwordrepose
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ɹɪˈpəʊz/
Letters6
Frequency rank#39,529
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs17
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “repose” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). repose lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for repose is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹɪˈpəʊz/. Corpus data places it at rank #39,529 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 14 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for repose, with forms such as "erpose", "reopse", and "repoes". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 17 confusable-pair relationships, "rose", "reps", "reuse", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: The verb is derived from Middle English reposen (“to rest”), from Anglo-Norman reposer, reposir, and Middle French reposer, from Old French reposer, repauser (“to become calm; to be peaceful; to rest; to be immobile; to lie or be placed; to cease, stop; to … The correct English form is repose, spelled R-E-P-O-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To lay (someone, or part of their body) down to rest.
  2. 2
    To rest (oneself), especially by going to sleep.
  3. 3
    Followed by from or (obsolete) of: to cause (oneself) to take a rest from some activity; also, to allow (oneself) to recover from some activity.
  4. 4
    To give (someone) rest; to refresh (someone) by giving rest.
  5. 5
    To cause (oneself) to have faith in or rely on someone or something.
  6. 6
    To give (someone) accommodation for the night.
  7. 7
    To lean or recline, sit down, or lie down to rest; to rest.
  8. 8
    To lean or recline, sit down, or lie down to rest; to rest.
  9. 9
    Followed by on or upon: of a thing: to lie or be physically positioned on something, especially horizontally; to rest on or be supported by something.
  10. 10
    Followed by on or upon: of light, a look, etc.: to fall or rest (and often remain for a while) on something; to alight, to dwell.
  11. 11
    Followed by on or upon: to be based on; to depend or rely on.
  12. 12
    To cease activity to rest or recover; also, to have a period free from activity or disturbance.
  13. 13
    To have faith in; to confide, to trust.
  14. 14
    To lie still and unmoving.

Etymology

The verb is derived from Middle English reposen (“to rest”), from Anglo-Norman reposer, reposir, and Middle French reposer, from Old French reposer, repauser (“to become calm; to be peaceful; to rest; to be immobile; to lie or be placed; to cease, stop; to neglect”) (modern French reposer), from Latin repausāre, the present active infinitive of repausō (“(Late Latin) to be at rest; to lie down, rest; to sleep; to calm, pacify; (Latin) to halt temporarily, pause”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again; back, backwards’) + pausō (“to cease, halt; to pause”) (from pausa (“a halt, stop; a pause; an end”), from Ancient Greek παῦσῐς (paûsĭs, “ceasing, stopping”), from παύω (paúō, “to cease; to make to cease, stop; to bring to an end; to hinder”) (further etymology uncertain; possibly from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, little; smallness”)) + -σῐς (-sĭs, suffix forming abstract nouns or nouns of action, process, or result)). The noun is derived from Late Middle English repose, from Anglo-Norman repous, repos, and Middle French repos, repose, from Old French repos (“calm; rest; period or state of sleep; state of immobility; state of inaction”) (modern French repos), from reposer, repauser (verb) (see above). Noun etymology 1 sense 12.3 (“technique of including in a painting an area or areas which are dark, indistinct, or soft in tone”) is borrowed from French repos. Cognates Catalan reposar (verb), repòs (noun) Italian riposare (verb), riposo (noun) Old Occitan repausar, repauzar (verb), repaus (noun) Portuguese repousar (verb), repouso (noun) Spanish reposar (verb), reposo (noun)

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: erpose,reopse,repoes,reposse,reppose,repsoe,rpeose,rrepose

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of repose - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

erpose2reopse2repoes2reposse1reppose1repsoe2rpeose2rrepose1
Edit distance from "repose"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "repose"?
"repose" is spelled R-E-P-O-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɹɪˈpəʊz/.
What does "repose" mean?
As a verb, "repose" means: To lay (someone, or part of their body) down to rest.
What words are commonly confused with "repose"?
"repose" is commonly confused with "rose", "reps", "reuse". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "repose"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "repose" is /ɹɪˈpəʊz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "repose"?
The verb is derived from Middle English reposen (“to rest”), from Anglo-Norman reposer, reposir, and Middle French reposer, from Old French reposer, repauser (“to become calm; to be peaceful; to rest; to be immobile; to lie or be placed; to cease,... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “repose”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is R-E-P-O-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ɹɪˈpəʊz/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “rose” - see the side-by-side comparison. repose vs rose
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list