reprieve
verb
[ rɪˈpriːv ]
• cancel or postpone the punishment of (someone, especially someone condemned to death).
• "under the new regime, prisoners under sentence of death were reprieved"
reprieve
noun
• a cancellation or postponement of a punishment.
• "he accepted the death sentence and refused to appeal for a reprieve"
Similar:
stay of execution,
cancellation of punishment,
postponement of punishment,
remission,
suspension of punishment,
respite,
pardon,
amnesty,
acquittal,
continuance,
let-off,
Origin:
late 15th century (as the past participle repryed ): from Anglo-Norman French repris, past participle of reprendre, from Latin re- ‘back’ + prehendere ‘seize’. The insertion of -v- (16th century) remains unexplained. Sense development has undergone a reversal, from the early meaning ‘send back to prison’, via ‘postpone a legal process’, to the current sense ‘rescue from impending punishment’.
