# reprieve

> English word · Verb · IPA /ɹɪˈpɹiːv/ · frequency rank #33,822

## Definitions
1. To cancel or postpone the punishment of someone, especially an execution.
2. To bring relief to someone.
3. To take back to prison (in lieu of execution).
4. To abandon or postpone plans to close, withdraw or abolish (something).

## Etymology
First use appears c. 1513 in the writings of Robert Fabyan. In the sense of “to take back to prison”, from Middle English repryen (“to remand, detain”) (1494), possibly from Middle French repris, in the form of reprendre (“take back”); a cognate to reprise. The sense has become generalized, but does retain connotations of punishment and execution. The noun's first use appears c. 1592.

## Easily confused with
- **reprise** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/reprieve-vs-reprise)
- **retrieve** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/reprieve-vs-retrieve)
- **retriever** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/reprieve-vs-retriever)
- **relieve** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/relieve-vs-reprieve)

## Common misspellings (11)
`erprieve`, `repireve`, `repprieve`, `repreive`, `reprieev`, `reprievve`, `reprivee`, `reprrieve`, `rerpieve`, `rperieve`, `rreprieve`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/reprieve