[rɪˈpriːv], (Verb)

Definitions:
- cancel or postpone the punishment of (someone, especially someone condemned to death)
(e.g: under the new regime, prisoners under sentence of death were reprieved)


Phrases:

Origin:
late 15th century (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 century) 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’

[rɪˈpriːv], (Noun)

Definitions:
- a cancellation or postponement of a punishment
(e.g: he accepted the death sentence and refused to appeal for a reprieve)


Phrases:

Origin:
late 15th century (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 century) 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’