One way to hold this word: the blow is already on its way down, and someone catches it. Not takes it away — catches it, and holds it there. The oldest picture behind the word is a prisoner walked back from the place of execution into the cell. The sentence has not been cancelled; the man has simply been taken back. Everything else the word does today is that same catch, with something else under the blade: a tax that was about to start, a heat that will not break, a station with a closing date on it. And the shape of the moment stays constant. The blow is real, the hand that catches it belongs to someone with power, and the hand can open again.
From the word’s history
The verb appears first, around 1513. It comes from Middle English repryen, to remand or detain, and is probably connected to Middle French reprendre, to take back; it is a cognate of reprise. The noun follows around 1592. The meaning has since become more general, but it still keeps its link with punishment and execution.
動詞先出現，大約在一五一三年。它來自中古英文 repryen（還押、拘留），可能連到法文 reprendre（拿回來），跟 reprise 同源。名詞大約一五九二年才出現。後來這個字的意思變得比較廣，但字典仍記著它保留著跟刑罰、行刑有關的味道——這正是為什麼今天用它的時候，壞事總是還沒真的消失。
Wiktionary entry for reprieve (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1032402256): first use c. 1513 in Robert Fabyan; from Middle English repryen (to remand, detain), possibly from Middle French repris / reprendre (take back); cognate to reprise; noun first used c. 1592; the sense has become general...
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