reprieve
Noun · VerbUS[ree-preev]/riˈpriv/2 syllables
Open English WordNet
Noun (4)
- a (temporary) relief from harm or discomfortSynonyms: respiteType of relief, ease
- an interruption in the intensity or amount of somethingSynonyms: suspensionrespitehiatusabatementType of interruption, breakKinds remission, defervescence
- a warrant granting postponement (usually to postpone the execution of the death sentence)Type of warrant
- the act of reprieving; postponing or remitting punishmentSynonyms: respiteType of clemency, mercifulness
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Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Re·prieve (r?-pr?v′), transitive verb [past tense & past participle Reprieved (-pr?vd′); present participle & verbal noun Reprieving.]
Origin: OE. repreven to reject, disallow, OF. reprover to blame, reproach, condemn (pres. il reprueve), F. réprouver to disapprove, fr. L. reprobare to reject, condemn; pref. re- re- + probare to try, prove. See Prove, and cf. Reprove, Reprobate.
1. To delay the punishment of; to suspend the execution of sentence on; to give a respite to; to respite; as, to reprieve a criminal for thirty days.
He reprieves the sinnner from time to time.— Rogers
2. To relieve for a time, or temporarily.
Company, thought it may reprieve a man from his melaneholy yet can not secure him from his conscience.— Robert South
Re·prieve′ (r?-pr?v′), noun
1. A temporary suspension of the execution of a sentence, especially of a sentence of death.
The morning Sir John Hotham was to die, a reprieve was sent to suspend the execution for three days.— Edward Hyde, first earl of Clarendon
2. Interval of ease or relief; respite.
All that I ask is but a short reprieve, ll I forget to love, and learn to grieve.— Sir John Denham
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54