Reply
verbTo respond in speech or writing to something said or asked.
How to spell reply
5 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce reply
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does reply mean?
- verbTo respond in speech or writing to something said or asked.
- nounAn answer given in speech or writing.
Reply in a sentence
-
verb
Please reply to my email before the meeting.
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noun
Her reply arrived two weeks after the letter was sent.
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verb
She did not reply to the invitation in time.
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noun
A prompt reply would help us finalise the booking.
Where does reply come from?
Language of origin: Latin
The word reply comes ultimately from the Latin replicare, which literally meant 'to fold back' or 'to unfold', built from re- 'back' and plicare 'to fold'. In late Latin and legal Latin it shifted toward the idea of folding an argument back on an opponent, that is, answering a charge. English borrowed it in the 1300s through the Old French replier, and from the start it carried the modern sense of giving an answer. The hidden 'ply' root is the same one that survives in 'pliable', 'plywood', and 'multiply', all of which involve folding or layering. Knowing that reply ends in the same -ply as 'apply' and 'supply' helps fix the y rather than an ie ending.
How the word is built
- re- (back)
- ply (from Latin plicare: to fold)
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