're-performance' originates from Latin and Old French, specifically the Latin prefix 're-' and the Old French/Medieval English element behind 'performance' (from verbs meaning 'to carry out'), where 're-' meant 'again' and the root behind 'perform' meant 'to carry out or accomplish'.

're-performance' changed from the combination of the prefix 're-' + Middle English/Old French words for 'perform' and the nominalizing suffix '-ance' (e.g. Middle English 'performaunce') and eventually became the modern English word 're-performance'.

Initially, 'performance' meant 'the act of carrying out or accomplishing (an action)'; with the prefix 're-' it meant 'the act of doing that again.' Over time, the compound kept that basic sense and also gained specialized technical uses (for example, the auditing sense of redoing procedures to verify results).