"waken again," 1630s; see re- "again" + waken (v.). Related: Rewakened; rewakening.

c. 1300, rewarden, "to grant, bestow;" early 14c. "to give as prize or compensation," from Anglo-French and Old North French rewarder "to regard, reward" (Old French regarder) "take notice of, regard, watch over." This is from re-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see re-), + warder "look, heed, watch," from Frankish or some other Germanic language, from Proto-Germanic *wardon "to guard" (from PIE root *wer- (3) "perceive, watch out for").

Originally any form of requital, good or bad, for service or evil-doing. A doublet of regard (v.), reward was used 14c.-15c. in the senses now given to that word: "look at; care about; consider." Related: Rewarded; rewarding.

also re-wind, "wind again, wind back," 1717, from re- "back, again" + wind (v.1). The noun meaning "mechanism for rewinding film or tape" is recorded from 1938; the sense of "act or process of winding backwards" is by 1964. Related: Rewound; rewinding.

also re-wire, "provide with new or different wiring," 1903, from re- "back, again" + wire (v.). Related: Rewired; rewiring.

c. 1600, "to repeat, put in words again," from re- "back, again" + word (v.) "put in words." The meaning "express in other words" is by 1882. Related: Reworded; rewording.

"to work (something) again or anew," 1842, from re- "again" + work (v.). Related: Reworked; reworking.

also re-zone, "assign a new or different land-use designation to" (a property or parcel), by 1951, American English, from re- "again" + zone (v.). Related: Rezoned; rezoning.

kind of Italian cottage cheese, 1877, earlier ricoct (1580s), from Italian ricotta, literally "recooked," from fem. past participle of Latin recoquere, from re- "again" (see re-) + coquere "to cook" (from PIE root *pekw- "to cook, ripen").

word-forming element of Latin origin meaning "backwards; behind," from Latin retro (prep.) "backward, back, behind," usually in reference to place or position, rarely of time, "formerly, in the past," probably originally the ablative form of *reteros, based on re- "back" (see re-).

L. retro stands to re- as intro, "in, within"; to in, "in," and as citro, "hither," stands to cis, "on this side." [Klein]

Common in combinations in post-classical Latin (the classical equivalent was post-). Active in English as a word-forming element from mid-20c.