Replace

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈpleɪs/

Definitions

1. to put something new in the place of something else that was there before
2. To put a new thing in the position of an old one that was removed
3. To substitute one object or item with another in the same spot

Etymology: The verb "replace" is a simple combination: the prefix "re-", meaning "back" or "again", attached to "place". Its roots run through Latin, where "re-" was a prefix of the same kind, and through Old French, which took "replacer" from the Latin prefix and the existing word for placing. English then borrowed the Old French form and later rebuilt it with the native English "place", so the word now carries the sense of setting something back into a position once held by something else. The key idea is literal. To replace something is to put it back where it was, or to fill the position that something has left. That physical picture of a spot being refilled is still visible in the modern sense of swapping one thing for another in the same place.

Synonyms: substitute, exchange, supplant, swap, displace

Antonyms: retain, keep, hold, maintain, preserve