Recommitted

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Done again or renewed in effort or action ; sent back to a place of confinement or custody, especially legally
2. Repeated or resumed an activity or obligation ; returned under guard or remanded, often by legal order
3. Carried out once more or reaffirmed a task or duty ; recommitted to custody, typically through judicial decision

Etymology: "Recommitted" is built from "re-", meaning again, and "committed," the past participle of "commit." "Commit" comes from Latin "committere," literally "to bring together, join, put together," formed from "com-" (together) and "mittere" (to send). The sense of "entrusting" or "consigning" to someone's keeping came out of that root, and it is that sense of handing a person over to custody that gives the second meaning its legal edge. The word's two senses split along that line. In one, a person or group renews a pledge, effort, or allegiance after having wavered or stepped back. In the other, a prisoner or patient is sent back into confinement, or a case is returned to a court or institution for further custody. Both senses come from the same "commit" that once meant consigning something to someone else's keeping. Because "recommit" is a regular prefixed verb formed in English from "re-" and "commit," its past tense and participle take the regular "-ed" ending, giving "recommitted."

Synonyms: reaffirmed, restated, reasserted, renewed, reengaged

Antonyms: abandoned, neglected, disengaged, rejected, failed