Reprieve
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’.
wiktionary
1571, in sense of “to take back to prison”, from Middle English repryen(“to remand, detain”) (1494), probably from Middle French repris, form of reprendre(“take back”); cognate to reprise. Sense generalized, but retains connotations of punishment and execution. Noun attested 1598. [2] Compare to Latin privare.
etymonline
reprieve (v.)
1570s, reprive, "take back to prison," alteration (perhaps by influence of reprove) of Middle English repryen "to remand, detain" (late 15c.), probably from French repris, past participle of reprendre "take back" (see reprise). Meaning "to suspend an impending execution" is recorded from 1590s; this sense evolved probably because being sent back to prison was the alternative to execution. Spelling with -ie- is from 1640s, perhaps by analogy of achieve, etc. Related: Reprieved; reprieving.
reprieve (n.)
1590s, "suspension of the execution of a criminal's sentence," from reprieve (v.). By 1630s in a general sense of "respite or temporary escape."
