Rearranging

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The activity of changing the configuration or order of various items
2. The process of altering the sequence or placement of elements within a group or system
3. An act involving modifying how components or items are organized or positioned

Etymology: The surprising part is how little "rearranging" adds to its base. It is simply the prefix "re-", meaning "again" or "back", attached to "arrange", so the whole word means to arrange again or differently. That is why the verb is so transparent: its parts are English prefix and English verb, with no hidden detour. The base "arrange" came into Middle English from Old French "arangier", a word built on "rengier" ("to put in a row"), which itself grew from "reng" ("rank" or "row"). That line of descent runs back through Vulgar Latin "rencus" to a Germanic word for a line or rank, which is why the core idea of "arrange" is simply placing things in a line. Because "re-" is productive in English, it can be attached to almost any verb of this kind. "Rearranging" therefore reads naturally as the act of putting things back into a different order, and the meaning follows directly from the parts.

Synonyms: reorganizing, reshuffling, reordering, restructuring, adjusting

Antonyms: disorganizing, misarranging, disarranging, scattering, dismantling