Etymograph

English

repay

Repay comes from Old French repaier ‘to pay back’, from Latin pācāre ‘to settle, to make peaceful’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- ‘to join, to attach’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ḱ-‘to join, to attach’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*péh₂ḱ-s‘peace’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pāks‘peace’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpāx‘peace’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpācāre‘to settle, to make peaceful’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400paiier‘to pay’
  7. Old French, derivedc. 842–1400repaier‘to pay back’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1707repay

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂ḱ-‘to join, to attach’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*péh₂ḱ-s‘peace’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pāks‘peace’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpāx‘peace’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpācāre‘to settle, to make peaceful’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400paiier‘to pay’
  7. Old French, derivedc. 842–1400repaier‘to pay back’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1707repay

Earliest quotation: 1707, Isaac Watts, Godly Sorrow ariſing from the Sufferings of Chriſt: “But drops of Grief can ne’re repay / The…”

Formed from re- + pay

Proto-Italic *wre- ‘again’

English re-

Medieval Latin pācāre ‘to settle’

Old French paiier

Middle English payen ‘to pay’

English pay

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- ‘to join, to attach’

fair, pact, fang, fay, gaffe, 8 more

through Latin pāx ‘peace’

peace, pace, pax, pacifist, pacifism, pogue, 5 more

through Old French paiier ‘to pay’

pay

Today it means

verb Synonym of pay back in all senses.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- / repay

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