Re-  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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Re- is a Latin prefix which denotes again, anew or backward, as in Renaissance, meaning rebirth.

Usage notes

• The hyphen is not normally included in words formed using this prefix, except when the absence of a hyphen would make the meaning unclear. Hyphens are used in the following cases:
  • Sometimes in new coinages and nonce words.

    stir and re-stir the mixture

  • When the word that the prefix is combined with begins with a capital letter.

    re-Christianise

  • In British usage, when the word that the prefix is combined with begins with e.

    re-entry (North American: reentry)

  • When the word formed is identical in form to another word in which re- does not have any of the senses listed above.

    The chairs have been re-covered (covered again)

    The chairs have been recovered (obtained back)

• A dieresis may be used instead of a hyphen, as in Template:Term. This usage is now rare, but extant; see dieresis: orthography for examples and discussion.
• re- is highly productive, to the point of being almost grammaticalized — almost any verb can have re- applied, especially in colloquial speech. Notable exceptions to this include all forms of be and the modal verbs can, should, etc.