Repaired

How to spell repaired

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce repaired

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does repaired mean?

1. verbRestored something damaged or broken to working condition (past tense of repair).

Repaired in a sentence

• The mechanic repaired the brakes before the long drive.

• She repaired the torn jacket with a few careful stitches.

Where does repaired come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the past form of the verb 'repair', which English took from the Old French 'reparer', itself descended from the Latin 'reparare', meaning 'to restore' or 'to put back in order'. That Latin verb was built from the prefix 're-', meaning 'again' or 'back', and 'parare', meaning 'to prepare' or 'to make ready', the same root that lies behind 'prepare' and 'apparatus'. English adopted 'repair' in the 1300s with the sense of restoring something to sound condition, and adding the regular '-ed' ending gives the past tense and past participle. It is worth noting that there was a second, unrelated 'repair' meaning 'to go to a place', which came instead from Latin 'repatriare' (to return to one's homeland); the mending sense is the one almost always meant today. The spelling trap is the '-aired' ending, since the word sounds as though it could end in 'ared', and the silent journey through French left the 'ai' intact.

How the word is built

• re- (again, back)
• pair (from Latin parare: to put in order, prepare)
• -ed (past tense suffix)