Etymology

react

R1E1A1C3T1

Today it means: To act in response. Full definition →

First used 17th c.English act ← Middle English acte ← Old French act
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The story

  1. Proto-Italic*wre-
  2. Latinre-
  3. Old Frenchre-
  4. Middle Englishre-
  5. Englishre-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eǵ-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éǵeti
  8. Proto-Italic*agō
  9. Latinagō
  10. Latināctus
  11. Latinācta
  12. Old Frenchact
  13. Middle Englishacte
  14. Englishact
  15. English todayreact

From re- + act. Piecewise doublet of redact.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 17th c. To act or perform a second time; to do over again; to reenact.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.