Repeal vs. rRepeel

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Grammarist

Repeal and repeel are two words that are pronounced in the same fashion but have different spellings as well as different meanings. We will look at the difference between repeal and repeel, where these two words come from and some examples of their use in sentences.

Repeal means to revoke something such as a law or a privilege, to rescind or to nullify. Repeal may be used as a noun or a verb, related words are repeals, repealed, repealing, repealable, repealer. The word repeal is derived from the Old French word rapeler which means to revoke, to call back.

Repeel means to peel again, to remove the skin or outer coating of something once more. The word repeel is a verb, related words are repeels, repeeled, repeeling. It is derived from the word peel, which comes from the Latin word pilare which means to strip hair from, and the prefix re- which means returned to the original place, once more, again, anew. The word repeel is very seldom used, when seen it is usually with a hyphen as in re-peel to mean to peel again or as a misspelling of the word repeal.

Examples

Republican lawmakers aired sharp concerns about their party’s quick push to repeal the Affordable Care Act inside a closed-door meeting Thursday, according to a recording of the session obtained by The Washington Post. (The Washington Post)

At the action meeting on Wednesday, the council instructed staff to write a ballot proposal for the June election that would repeal Measure L, and to provide alternative means of completing the project. (The Mercury News)

A peeling line now allows for much shorter and more yield efficient steam times combined with a 3 way sorter which directs defect potatoes to a re-peel line. (Fresh Plaza News)

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