Etymograph

English

replevy

Replevy comes from Old French replevir ‘recover’, from Proto-Italic *wre- ‘again’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wre- ‘back’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wre-1‘back’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wre-2‘again’reconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400replevir3‘recover’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1596replevy3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *wre-
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin re-, which cites OED
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English replevy
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book IV, Canto VII: “I humbly crave your Majestie / It to replevie…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wre-Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *wre-‘back’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wre-Wiktionary, Latin re-, which cites OED‘again’reconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400replevirWiktionary, English replevy‘recover’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1596replevyWiktionary, English replevy. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book IV, Canto VII: “I humbly crave your Majestie / It to replevie…”

The story

Old French replevir (‘recover’), from re- + plevir (probably from a Germanic source which also gave pledge).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *wre- ‘again’

require, rescue, rely, reverse, reminiscent, remark, reciprocal, revoke, reciprocate, refrigerate, repellent, rappel, regurgitate, repulse, 14 more

Today it means

verb To return goods to their rightful owner by replevin; to recover goods.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “replevy”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Italic *wre-, Latin re-. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wre- / replevy

Shirt and support for this word