Rep

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A representative or delegate in a specialized group or organization
2. an abbreviation for a repeated sequence or pattern in various contexts
3. a performer or individual taking on roles in dramatic or artistic expressions

Etymology: "Rep" is a clipping of several longer words that begin with "rep-", most often "repetition" and "representative," and its abbreviated sense as a count of repeated exercise movements is one of its most familiar uses. The shortened form is the kind of trimming speakers do when a long word is used constantly, so that "rep" stands in for the whole word in everyday talk. The noun "reps" is the more curious part. It began as a shortening of "representatives" or "repetitions," and speakers then treated the final "s" as a plural marker, so "rep" was pulled back out of "reps" as if it were the singular. This is a back-formation: the singular was created by stripping an ending from a form that was never a singular to begin with.

Synonyms: representative, agent, delegate, proxy, spokesperson

Antonyms: principal, client, opponent, adversary, boss