repeal

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /rɪˈpil/ UK /rɪˈpiːl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to revoke or annul a law officially

Parliament voted to repeal the outdated statute.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to revoke or annul a law... revoke annul rescind abolish cancel abrogate

Opposites

enact institute ratify

Word family

Derived forms repealablerepealer

Related forms appeal peal

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman repeler, from Old French rapeler ('to call back, revoke'), from re- ('back') + apeler ('to call'), from Latin appellare ('to address, appeal to').

rapeler Old French appellare Latin pellere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# repeal

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /rɪˈpil/
**IPA (UK):** /rɪˈpiːl/

## Meanings
1. to revoke or annul a law officially

## Examples
- Parliament voted to repeal the outdated statute.

## Synonyms
- revoke
- annul
- rescind
- abolish
- cancel
- abrogate

## Antonyms
- enact
- institute
- ratify

## Derived Forms
- repealable
- repealer

## Related Forms
- appeal
- peal

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: rapeler
- Root: appellare
- Root: pellere

## Etymology
From Anglo-Norman repeler, from Old French rapeler ('to call back, revoke'), from re- ('back') + apeler ('to call'), from Latin appellare ('to address, appeal to').

## AI Etymology
Repeal comes from Anglo-Norman repeler, from Old French rapeler ('to call back, revoke'), from re- ('back') + apeler ('to call'), from Latin appellare ('to address, appeal to'). The historical chain includes Old French rapeler, Latin appellare, and Latin pellere. The quoted older senses, "to call back, revoke", "back", "to call", and "to address, appeal to", supply the semantic anchors for repeal. The formation is best read as compound and borrowed: the word repeal carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a verb, "to revoke or annul a law officially". English derivatives include repealable and repealer; related English forms include appeal and peal. The result is a verb and noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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