Opriepen

Opriepen is a Dutch verb that is rarely used in everyday language and is generally considered archaic or dialectal in modern Dutch. The word is formed by adding the prefix op- to the verb riepen, which means to cry out or to call. The literal sense of opriepen can be understood as “to call up” or “to evoke,” encompassing both the act of summoning someone and the act of provoking memories, images, or responses.

In historical texts and some regional speech varieties, opriepen appears as a fuller or older form of the more common oproepen or oproepen, which are today’s standard equivalents for “to summon,” “to invoke,” or “to evoke.” Because opriepen is not standard in contemporary usage, its interpretation often relies on context, with near-synonyms chosen according to the intended meaning—such as calling someone to appear, invoking a memory, or triggering a response.

Linguists observe opriepen as an example of prefixal verb formation in Dutch and discuss its decline as standard language norms shifted toward forms like oproepen and roepen for most senses of “call” or “invoke.” In literary analysis, the term may be encountered when examining older texts, regional writings, or discussions of language change.

See also: oproepen, oproepen (to summon, to invoke), roepen (to call).