Recalibration

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of making precise changes to the settings of a device to ensure accurate measurements
2. An act of rechecking and correcting the scale or measurements of an instrument to maintain its accuracy
3. A procedure for fine-tuning a tool or system by realigning or resetting it to correct standards

Etymology: Recalibration is a plain compound: the prefix "re-", meaning "again", attached to "calibration", the act of checking or adjusting a measuring instrument against a standard. The verb underneath it, "calibrate", was formed in English from "calibre", the word for the diameter of a gun barrel or bullet. Calibration therefore began as a measure of bore width before it came to mean the fine-tuning of readings. Recalibration itself is recorded from 1883, so it is a fairly late formation, coined once "calibration" was already established as a term for adjusting instruments. The "re-" simply signals that the adjustment is being repeated, usually because a device has drifted or been moved, and the result is a word that describes routine maintenance of precision equipment.

Synonyms: adjustment, realignment, modification, tuning, reconfiguration