| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| refrain2 |
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| SYLLABICATION: | re·frain |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  r -fr n |
| NOUN: | 1a. A phrase, verse, or group of verses repeated at intervals throughout a song or poem, especially at the end of each stanza. b. Music for the refrain of a poem. 2. A song or melody. 3. A repeated utterance or theme. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English refrein, from Old French refrain, alteration of refrait, past participle of refraindre, to break off, repeat, from Vulgar Latin *refrangere, to break off, alteration of Latin refringere. See refract.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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