English
repeat
Repeat comes from Old French repeter, from Latin repetō, from re- ‘again’ + petō ‘to seek, attack’, from Proto-Indo-European *péth₂eti ‘to fly’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*péth₂eti‘to fly’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpetō‘to attack, beseech, seek’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErepetō‘to attack again’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400repeter‘to say multiple times’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form‘to repeat’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500repeten‘to repeat’
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1687repeat
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*péth₂eti‘to fly’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpetō‘to attack, beseech, seek’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErepetō‘to attack again’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400repeter‘to say multiple times’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form‘to repeat’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500repeten‘to repeat’
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1687repeat
Earliest quotation: a. 1687, Edmund Waller: “He[…] repeats the danger of the burning town.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peth₂- ‘to spread out’
pass, mile, expansion, expand, helicopter, pen, patent, competent, symptom, spawn, feather, expanse, pennant, pinion, patina, patella, pata, penna, 81 more
through Latin petō ‘to attack, beseech’
compete, petition, competitor, perpetual, impetus, perpetuate, perpetuity, petulant, impetuous, petulance, 14 more
through Latin repetō ‘to attack again’
Today it means
verb To do or say again (and again).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *péth₂eti / repeat