repair

English

Etymology 1

Coined between 1300 and 1350 from Middle English repairen, from Middle French reparer, from Latin reparō (“renew, repair”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈpɛə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈpɛɚ/, /ɹəˈpɛɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)

Verb

repair (third-person singular simple present repairs, present participle repairing, simple past and past participle repaired)

1. To restore to good working order, fix, or improve damaged condition; to mend; to remedy.

   to repair a house, a road, a shoe, a ship

   to repair a shattered fortune

   • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, .”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: J. M for John Starkey , →OCLC, page 44:

     Secret refreſhings, that repair his ſtrength,

   • 1807, William Wordsworth, “To the Daisy”, in Poems, in Two Volumes, volume II, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, , →OCLC, page 96:

     Do thou, as thou art wont, repair / My heart with gladness,

2. To make amends for, as for an injury, by an equivalent; to indemnify for.

   to repair a loss or damage

   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     I'll repair the misery thou dost bear.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:repair

Derived terms

• repairable, reparable
• repairer

Translations

Noun

repair (countable and uncountable, plural repairs)

1. The act of repairing something.

   I took the car to the workshop for repair.

   • 2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:

     One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. […] But out of sight is out of mind. And that […] means that many old sewers have been neglected and are in dire need of repair.

2. The result of repairing something.

   If you look closely you can see the repair in the paintwork.

3. The condition of something, in respect of need for repair.

   The car was overall in poor repair before the accident. But after the workshop had it for three weeks it was returned in excellent repair. But the other vehicle was beyond repair.

   • 1962 March, J. M. Tolson, “The Netherlands Railways today—I”, in Modern Railways, page 172:

     The 1300 class (Nos. 1301-16), one of which was damaged beyond repair in an accident, are Co-Cos, weigh 111 tons and have a top speed of 85 m.p.h.

   • 2020 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43:

     Thirteen houses were damaged beyond repair, and much of the rest of the town suffered broken windows and lost slates.

Derived terms

Related terms

• reparation
• reparative

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English repairen (“to return”), from Old French repairier, from Late Latin repatriare (“to return to one's country”), from re- + patria (“homeland”). Cognate to repatriate.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈpɛə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈpɛɚ/, /ɹəˈpɛɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)

Noun

repair (plural repairs)

1. The act of repairing or resorting to a place.

   our annual repair to the mountains

   • 1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, “(please specify |book=I to XVI)”, in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the Theater, published 1707, →OCLC:

     The king sent a proclamation for their repair to their houses.

2. A place to which one goes frequently or habitually; a haunt.
   • 1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, 1666. , London: Henry Herringman, , →OCLC, (please specify the stanza number):

     There the fierce winds his tender force assail / And beat him downward to his first repair.

Translations

Verb

repair (third-person singular simple present repairs, present participle repairing, simple past and past participle repaired)

2. To transfer oneself to another place.

   to repair to sanctuary for safety

   • c. 1699 – 1703, Alexander Pope, “The First Book of Statius His Thebais”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: W Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, , published 1717, →OCLC:

     Go, mount the winds, and to the shades repair.

   • 1828, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter XVI, in Pelham; or, The Adventures of a Gentleman. , volume I, London: Henry Colburn, , →OCLC, page 111:

     At the hour of half-past five we repaired to our engagement.

   • 1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter IV, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. , volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., , →OCLC, page 109:

     At a late hour, after I had been in bed some time, I heard the visitors repair to their chambers:

   • 1908, W B M Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 47:

     That finished, I repaired to my room, one flight up, and, after a thorough wash, seated myself, pipe in mouth, at the little window that opened on the Rue Garde.

   • 1960 April, B. Perren, “Resorts for Railfans -30: Bournemouth”, in Trains Illustrated, page 239:

     [...] the train engine uncouples and either backs on to the up through line to await its next duty or repairs to the motive power depot.

Derived terms

• repatriate

Translations

Etymology 3

From re- +‎ pair.

Alternative forms

• re-pair

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈriːpɛə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈriːpɛɚ/

Verb

repair (third-person singular simple present repairs, present participle repairing, simple past and past participle repaired)

2. To pair again.

   Please try to repair the two earbuds to each other. Place both earbuds back into the charging case, wait for four seconds, then open it and see if they have been repaired with one another.

Further reading

• “repair”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “repair”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “repair”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “repair”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.

Anagrams

• Rapier, pairer, rapier