reply

Etymology

From Middle English replyen, replien, borrowed from Old French replier (“to reply”), from the Latin replicō, replicāre (“I fold back”) (in Late or Medieval Latin "to reply, repeat"), from re + plicō (“I fold”); the noun derives from the verb by nominalisation. Doublet of replicate and replica.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈplaɪ/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -aɪ
Hyphenation: re‧ply

Verb

reply (third-person singular simple present replies, present participle replying, simple past and past participle replied)

(transitive, intransitive) To give a written or spoken response, especially to a question, request, accusation or criticism; to answer.
(intransitive) Please reply to my letter.

(transitive) "Sorry I'm late," replied the student.

(transitive) He replied that he was not sure.
(intransitive) To act or gesture in response.
Joanne replied to Pete's insult with a slap to his face.
- 1988, Emmanuel Doe Ziorklui, Ghana: Nkrumah to Rawlings:
  It is a sound to be dreaded until you ascertain that it is being made by friendly forces; even then, your welcome to it must be tempered with some caution, because gunfire usually leads to replying gunfire […]
- 2012, Steve Cowens, Steel City Rivals:
  […] bulged the onion bag for the Blades, and Downes and Prendergast replied for the Owls.
(intransitive) To repeat something back; to echo.

Synonyms

respond, answer, retort, answer back, react, rejoin, counter, return, revert, follow up, get back to

Translations

to give a written or spoken response

Arabic: أَجَابَ (ʔajāba), رَدَّ (ar) (radda)
Egyptian Arabic: رد (radd)
Armenian: պատասխանել (hy) (patasxanel)
Azerbaijani: cavab vermək, cavablandırmaq (transitive)
Bengali: জবাব দেওয়া (jobab deōẇa), উত্তর দেওয়া (uttor deōẇa)
Bulgarian: отгова́рям (bg) (otgovárjam)
Catalan: respondre (ca)
Cherokee: ᎦᏬᎯᎵᏴᎠ (gawohiliyva)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 回答 (zh) (huídá), 答應 / 答应 (zh) (dāying), 答覆 (zh) (dáfù)
Czech: odpovědět (cs), (in letter) odepsat
Danish: svare (da), besvare
Dutch: antwoorden (nl), beantwoorden (nl)
Esperanto: respondi (eo)
Finnish: vastata (fi)
French: répondre (fr)
Friulian: rispuindi
Georgian: პასუხობს (ṗasuxobs)
German: antworten (de), erwidern (de)
Greek: απαντώ (el) (apantó)
Ancient: ἀποκρίνομαι (apokrínomai)
Hindi: जवाब (hi) (javāb), जवाब देना (javāb denā), उत्तर देना (uttar denā)
Hungarian: felel (hu), válaszol (hu)
Indonesian: jawab (id)
Ingrian: vassata
Irish: freagair
Italian: rispondere (it), replicare (it)
Japanese: 返事する (ja) (へんじする, henji-suru), 返信する (ja) (へんしんする, henshin-suru), (answer) 答える (ja) (こたえる, kotaeru)
Khiamniungan Naga: thòshī
Khmer: ឆ្លើយ (km) (claəy), តប (km) (tɑɑp)
Korean: 대답하다 (ko) (daedaphada)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: وەڵام دان (wellam dan)
Ladin: respuender
Latin: respondeō, resequor
Macedonian: одговара (odgovara)
Malayalam: മറുപടി നൽകുക (maṟupaṭi nalkuka), പ്രതികരിക്കുക (ml) (pratikarikkuka)
Manx: freggyr
Maori: urupare
Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
Norman: rêpondre
Norwegian: svare (no)
Persian: جواب دادن (fa) (javâb dâdan), پاسخانیدن (pâsoxânidan)
Plautdietsch: auntwuate
Polish: odpowiadać (pl) impf, odpowiedzieć (pl) pf
Portuguese: responder (pt)
Romanian: răspunde (ro)
Russian: отвеча́ть (ru) impf (otvečátʹ), отве́тить (ru) pf (otvétitʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: freagair
Serbo-Croatian:
Roman: odgovoriti (sh)
Somali: jawaabid
Spanish: responder (es), contestar (es)
Swedish: svara (sv), besvara (sv)
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Tok Pisin: bekim tok
Ukrainian: розповіда́ти (uk) impf (rozpovidáty), розпові́сти (uk) pf (rozpovísty)
Urdu: جواب دینا (javāb denā)
Vietnamese: trả lời (vi), hồi đáp, hồi âm (vi)
Welsh: ateb (cy)
Zazaki: cewab

to act or gesture in response

Bulgarian: отвръщам (bg) (otvrǎštam)
Danish: svare (da), genmæle
Dutch: beantwoorden (nl)
Finnish: vastata (fi)
Ingrian: vassata
Japanese: 返事する (ja) (へんじする, henji-suru)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: وەڵام دان (wellam dan)
Macedonian: одговара (odgovara)
Malayalam: മറുപടി നൽകുക (maṟupaṭi nalkuka)
Portuguese: responder (pt)
Russian: отвеча́ть (ru) impf (otvečátʹ), отве́тить (ru) pf (otvétitʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: freagair
Spanish: responder (es), contestar (es)

to repeat something back

Finnish: palauttaa (fi)
Italian: ripetere (it)
Japanese: 返事する (ja) (へんじする, henji-suru)
Malayalam: മറുപടി നൽകുക (maṟupaṭi nalkuka)
Portuguese: repetir (pt)
Spanish: repetir (es)
Tok Pisin: bekim tok

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Dutch: ^{(please verify)} antwoorden (nl)
Korean: ^{(please verify)} 대답하다 (ko) (daedaphada)
Old English: ^{(please verify)} oncweþan
Woiwurrung: ^{(please verify)} toombuk-tû

Noun

reply (plural replies)

A written or spoken response; part of a conversation.
Something given in reply.
A counterattack.
(music) The answer of a figure.
(US, law) A document written by a party specifically replying to a responsive declaration and in some cases an answer.

Synonyms

answer, comeback, response, retort, return, account, rejoinder, riposte, reaction

Translations

written or spoken response

Albanian: përgjigje (sq) f
Arabic: إِجَابَة f (ʔijāba), جَوَاب m (jawāb), رَدّ (ar) m (radd)
Armenian: պատասխան (hy) (patasxan)
Asturian: rempuesta, rimpuesta, resposta, respuesta
Azerbaijani: cavab (az)
Bashkir: яуап (yawap)
Belarusian: адка́з m (adkáz)
Bengali: জবাব (bn) (jobab), উত্তর (bn) (uttor)
Bulgarian: о́тговор (bg) m (ótgovor)
Catalan: resposta (ca)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 回答 (wui⁴ daap³)

Mandarin: 回答 (zh) (huídá)
Czech: odpověď (cs) f
Danish: svar (da) n, besvarelse c
Dutch: antwoord (nl) n, respons (nl) f or n
Erzya: каршо вал (karšo val)
Estonian: vastus
Finnish: vastaus (fi)
French: réponse (fr) f
Old French: response f
Georgian: პასუხი (ṗasuxi)
German: Antwort (de) f, Entgegnung (de) f
Gothic: 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌰𐌷𐌰𐍆𐍄𐍃 f (andahafts)
Greek: απάντηση (el) f (apántisi)
Ancient: ὑπόκρισις f (hupókrisis)
Hebrew: תְּשׁוּבָה (he) f (t'shuvá)
Hindi: जवाब (hi) m (javāb), उत्तर (hi) m (uttar)
Hungarian: válasz (hu), felelet (hu)
Ingrian: vassus
Irish: freagairt f
Italian: risposta (it) f, replica (it) f
Japanese: 返事 (ja) (へんじ, henji), 返答 (ja) (へんとう, hentō), 答え (ja) (こたえ, kotae), (written) 返信 (ja) (へんしん, henshin), 回答 (ja) (かいとう, kaitō), リプライ (ripurai), リプ (ripu), レス (ja) (resu) (Internet)
Kazakh: жауап (jauap)
Khmer: ពាក្យឆ្លើយ (piək chlaəy)
Korean: 대답(對答) (ko) (daedap), 답변(答辯) (ko) (dapbyeon), 회답(回答) (hoedap), 리플 (ko) (ripeul), 댓글 (ko) (daetgeul) (Internet)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: وەڵام (wellam)
Kyrgyz: жооп (ky) (joop)
Latin: responsum n
Latvian: atbilde f
Lithuanian: atsakymas (lt) m
Macedonian: одговор (mk) m (odgovor)
Malayalam: മറുപടി (ml) (maṟupaṭi), പ്രതികരണം (ml) (pratikaraṇaṁ)
Manx: freggyrt m
Mari:
Eastern Mari: вашмут (vašmut)
Norman: rêponse f
Norwegian:
Bokmål: svar (no) n

Nynorsk: svar n
Old English: ġeġncwide m
Ottoman Turkish: جواب (cevab), اجابت (icabet)
Persian:
Dari: جَوَاب (jawāb), پَاسُخ (pāsux)

Iranian Persian: جَواب (javâb), پاسُخ (pâsox)
Plautdietsch: Auntwuat (nds) f
Polish: odpowiedź (pl) f
Portuguese: resposta (pt) f
Romanian: răspuns (ro) n
Russian: отве́т (ru) m (otvét)
Scottish Gaelic: freagairt f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: о̏дгово̄р m

Roman: ȍdgovōr (sh) m
Slovak: odpoveď f
Slovene: odgovor (sl) m
Spanish: respuesta (es) f, responsión (es) f, contestación (es) f
Swedish: svar (sv) n
Tagalog: sagot, buwelta
Tajik: жавоб (žavob), посух (posux)
Tatar: җавап (tt) (cawap)
Thai: คำตอบ (th) (kam-dtɔ̀ɔp)
Turkish: yanıt (tr), cevap (tr)
Turkmen: jogap (tk)
Ukrainian: ві́дповідь (uk) f (vídpovidʹ)
Urdu: جَواب m (javāb)
Uyghur: جاۋاب (jawab)
Uzbek: javob (uz)
Vietnamese: trả lời (vi)
Welsh: ateb (cy) m
Zazaki: cewab

something given in reply

Armenian: պատասխան (hy) (patasxan)
Danish: svar (da) n
Finnish: vastaus (fi)
French: réponse (fr) f
German: Antwort (de)
Ingrian: vassus
Japanese: お返し (おかえし, okaeshi)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: وەڵام (wellam)
Macedonian: одговор (mk) m (odgovor)
Malayalam: മറുപടി (ml) (maṟupaṭi)
Mari:
Eastern Mari: вашмут (vašmut)
Portuguese: resposta (pt) f
Russian: отве́т (ru) m (otvét)
Spanish: respuesta (es) f, responsión (es) f, contestación (es) f

Derived terms

Anagrams

lepry, plyer