​RESPITE (O. Fr. respit, modern répit, Lat. respectus, regard, consideration, respicere, to look back at), properly a delay, given for the further consideration of some matter, hence relief. In law the term is used of the postponement of the immediate execution of the law in criminal cases, e.g. by binding a convicted prisoner over to come up for judgment when called upon, or when a case is “respited” from one quarter sessions to another. The word is loosely used in the sense of a “reprieve” (q.v.).