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The Spanish equivalent of the English word "encounter" is "rencontrar." Why does the Spanish version have the beginning "r" when the English one doesn't?
The source is the Spanish version of "Tea for Two,"
Tu serás aquel amor, que yo soñé en rencontrar.
I learned the song years ago, but can't find a google version.
First of all, the Spanish equivalent of encounter is encuentro o encontrar, not rencontrar. The song you are referring to might be saying reencontrar, which is the word encuentro with the prefix re. That prefix means repetition or augmentation, depending on context. You can find it with a hyphen (-), like re-encontrar, or without it: reencontrar.
In the song you are quoting it is like saying encounter or find it again as in once I had it and I lost it: alguna vez soñé con reencontrarlo.
The premise that the Spanish equivalent of "encounter" is "rencontrar" is false.
"Rencontrar" means "to re-encounter", or to encounter again, for a second time for example. Hence the "r".
The etymology comes from the Latin prefix "re", see this Wikipedia article.
The word in Spanish is also "reencontrar", which is clearer on the origin, (rencontrar is an evolution coming from the use).
