Repay Meaning
/ɹiˈpeɪ/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbSynonym of pay back in all senses.
verbTo make worthwhile; to yield a result worth the effort; to pay off.
Sentence Examples
I've got to get some money somehow to repay the bank loan.
I would like to repay your kindness in the near future.
He promised to repay the borrowed money next week.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He borrowed $100 from his sister and promised to ____ the money by Friday.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She promised to ____ the money her friend had lent her as soon as her salary arrived.
Word Origin & History
From Old French repaier (“to pay back”), from re- + paiier (“to pay”), from Latin pācāre (“to settle, to make peaceful”), from pāx (“peace”) + -ō (forming verbs). Equivalent to re- + pay. Cognate with repacify and French repayer (“to pay again”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"But drops of Grief can ne’re repay / The debt of Love I owe, […]"
— 1707, Isaac Watts, “Godly Sorrow ariſing from the Sufferings of Chriſt”, in Hymns and Spiritual Songs, London: J. Humfreys, page 86:
"On the results of the Kent Coast electrification, which is known to be repaying so far a satisfactory return on the investment in it, a Waterloo-Bournemouth scheme shows reasonable financial promise."
— 1962 April, “Talking of Trains: Short-sighted approach to profits?”, in Modern Railways, page 219:
"I was low as low could go / Could not stand anymore / Oh, I could never, never / Never, never repay you"
— 1973, Billy Paul, “Thanks for Saving My Life”, in War of the Gods:
"Returning to the school years later, Diakabana discovered it was a school guard. She wanted to repay him. "He told me to help others when I could, so I launched a scholarship program," says Diakabana, who now lives in Switzerland and is co-founder of The Luminous Agency, which focuses on digital literacy."
— 2025 November 13, Kamala Thiagarajan, “If you're going to be kind to another human, today is the day to do it!”, in NPR:
"The possible importance of excessive androgen secretion and the ingestion of agents such as the fluorenamines may repay further investigation."
— 2013, M. Pavone-MacAluso, Testicular Cancer and Other Tumors of the Genitourinary Tract, page 517:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He borrowed $100 from his sister and promised to ____ the money by Friday.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She promised to ____ the money her friend had lent her as soon as her salary arrived.