re

Meanings

1. 1prepositionfixed phraseformalbusiness

   Introducing the subject of a letter, email, memo, or legal document; meaning about or concerning.

   Grammar: Usually written Re: before the subject in headings; in running text about is more natural.

   Patterns

   • Re: something
   • re your email
   • re a payment

   Re: your invoice, please send the missing purchase order.

   The memo, re safety drills, was sent to every department.

2. 2nouncountablemusic

   In solfege, the second note of a major scale, coming between do and mi.

   Grammar: Used as a note name, especially in singing exercises; plural res is rare.

   Patterns

   • do, re, mi
   • sing the note re
   • practice re and mi

   The children sang do, re, mi as the teacher played the scale.

   He kept sliding flat whenever the melody reached re.

Word forms

Common combinations

Re: your message

Re: your message, I can meet on Tuesday afternoon.

re the contract

Re the contract, we need one more signature before Friday.

do, re, mi

The choir warmed up with do, re, mi across the whole scale.

sing a clear re

She asked the soprano to sing a clear re before moving to mi.

Synonyms and how they differ

regarding

More common in full sentences; Re: is compact in headings and subject lines.

concerning

Formal and close in meaning, but less typical than Re: in memo headings.

about

Neutral and natural in speech; Re: can look stiff or official in conversation.

Word family

do noun

The first solfege note before re.

mi noun

The solfege note after re.

solfege noun

A singing system using syllables such as do, re, and mi.

Commonly confused: re or ray? re or regarding?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “re”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words