English
reply
Reply comes from Old French replier ‘to reply’, from Latin replicō ‘to fold back’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to plait, to weave’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to plait’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicō‘to fold’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEreplicō‘to fold back’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400replier‘to reply’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500replyen
- Englishearliest quotation 1986reply
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleḱ-‘to plait’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplicō‘to fold’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEreplicō‘to fold back’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400replier‘to reply’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500replyen
- Englishearliest quotation 1986reply
Earliest quotation: 1986, Terry Pratchett, The Light Fantastic: “For example, it is said that someone at a…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- ‘to plait, to weave’
complex, fiasco, flax, flack, plexus, flagon, 33 more
through Latin plicō ‘to fold’
display, employment, apply, explicit, employ, exploitation, exploit, implicit, imply, deploy, complication, complicate, accomplice, inexplicable, replication, ploy, complicity, implicate, supple, pliable, ply, supplication, triplicate, explication, pliant, splay, 20 more
through Latin replicō ‘to fold back’
Today it means
verb To give a written or spoken response, especially to a question, request, accusation or criticism; to answer.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- / reply