erwidern

to reply

verb er-VEE-dern Less Common

Also means

to reciprocate

Usage Note

erwidern means to answer or respond to a remark, and also to return a feeling or greeting: einen Gruß erwidern, Liebe erwidern. As a speech verb it is a slightly formal synonym of antworten. The noun Erwiderung names a reply or rejoinder.

Examples

"Auf meine Frage erwiderte er nichts."

Natural Translation

To my question he replied nothing.

Literal Translation

On my question replied he nothing.

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