DictionaryRoot: re-
Old French
re-
back or again
Forms
- re-
- r- — A shortened form found before a vowel in some French words.
Origin
Old French continued Latin re-, “back, again.”
Note
Returning and repeating are related ideas, but neither meaning is obvious in every inherited word.
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noun / verb
rappel
ra-PEL/ræˈpel/
A controlled descent on a rope using friction.
Etymology
The pieces mean “call back,” giving the noun sense “recall.” That noun became the mountaineering term for a rope descent, and then the verb for making one.