- Is it ok to regift?
regift
verb; derivation
To give an unwanted gift one has received to another person, especially during Christmas time. This derivation appears to break with logic, though, due to the fact that since it is a verb, it seems that re- should have been added to the verb form of gift, which is “give.” Instead, the root gift has been zero-derived to a verb form, but only when accompanied by the prefix, re-. The term seems to be quite common on the news and is catching on in everyday speech as a specific term to describe giving a gift one has received from someone else to another person. According to The Beacon Journal on December 21, 2003, the original use is attributed to derivation for use in Christmas episodes of the T.V. series, Seinfeld.
Etymology : The word part, re- 'again,' has been added to the root gift. Gift means to transfer something to someone else without expecting compensation and comes from the Old Norse, gipt (13th century)
Source : ABC News
Last modified: 10 June 2008