reprieve

views updated May 18 2018

re·prieve / riˈprēv/ • v. [tr.] cancel or postpone the punishment of (someone, esp. someone condemned to death): under the new regime, prisoners under sentence of death were reprieved. ∎  abandon or postpone plans to close or put an end to (something): the threatened pits could be reprieved.• n. a cancellation or postponement of a punishment. ∎  a temporary escape from an undesirable fate or unpleasant situation: a mother who faced eviction has been given a reprieve.ORIGIN: late 15th cent. (as the past participle repryed): from Anglo-Norman French repris, past participle of reprendre, from Latin re- ‘back’ + prehendere ‘seize.’ The insertion of -v- (16th cent.) remains unexplained. Sense development has undergone a reversal, from the early meaning ‘send back to prison,’ via ‘postpone (a legal process),’ to the current sense ‘rescue from impending punishment.’

reprieve

views updated Jun 27 2018

reprieve †send back to prison; †postpone; delay the punishment of. XVI. First in pp. reprived, unexpl. alt. of earlier repryed (to prison) — AN., OF. repris, pp. of reprendre, f. RE- + prendre take.
Hence sb. XVI.

Reprieve

views updated May 18 2018

REPRIEVE

The suspension of the execution of the death penalty for a period of time.

Reprieve is generally an act of clemency that is extended to a prisoner in order to give him or her an opportunity to find a means or reason for reducing the sentence imposed.

The term reprieve is also used generally in reference to the withdrawal of any sentence for a period of time.