reprieve

The story

1. Middle French · derived fromrepris
2. Middle English · inherited fromrepryen“to remand, detain”
3. English todayreprieve

First use appears c. 1513 in the writings of Robert Fabyan. In the sense of “to take back to prison”, from Middle English repryen (“to remand, detain”) (1494), possibly from Middle French repris, in the form of reprendre (“take back”); a cognate to reprise. The sense has become generalized, but does retain connotations of punishment and execution. The noun's first use appears c. 1592.