Meaning

noun a statement (either spoken or written) that is made to reply to a question or request or criticism or accusation

noun the speech act of continuing a conversational exchange

verb react verbally

originFrom Middle English replyen, replien, borrowed from Old French replier (“to reply”), from the Latin replicō, replicāre (“to fold back”) (in Late or Medieval Latin "to reply, repeat"), from re + plicō (“to fold”); the noun derives from the verb by nominalisation. Doublet of replicate and replica.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0