Literary notes about Reciprocate (AI summary)
The term “reciprocate” exhibits a rich diversity of application in literature, reflecting the nuanced exchange of actions, sentiments, and characteristics. In earlier usages, as seen in [1], it denotes a delayed act of mutual congratulation, while [2] employs it to balance conversational bluntness, suggesting that even harsh remarks invite an equal response. In romantic contexts, as illustrated in [3], the word encapsulates the notion of returning affection, whereas in [4] it broadens to cover the idea of cooperating in moral transgressions. The political or social realm is touched upon in [5], where reciprocal wishes appear in the discourse on women’s rights, and in [6] it is defined expansively as matching or corresponding to, hinting at belonging or partnership. Finally, [7] encapsulates its introspective use as a query about the manners in which reciprocation is expressed.
- They were slow to reciprocate our gratulations.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley - Yet she was a woman of the people, a worker: otherwise—let me reciprocate your bluntness—I should have scorned her.
— from Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy by Bernard Shaw - This well-informed and talkative young man showed his warm and hearty devotion to me more openly, and I felt bound to reciprocate his affection.
— from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner - This formula is obviously unprecise in statement; for one might wish for another’s co-operation in sin, and be willing to reciprocate it.
— from The Methods of Ethics by Henry Sidgwick - I have no doubt the woman's rights women reciprocate the wish.
— from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I - i w. a return, reciprocate, match, correspond to; belong to, be the part of, be for. correspondiente corresponding.
— from Doña Perfecta by Benito Pérez Galdós - In what manners did she reciprocate?
— from Ulysses by James Joyce
