Reconferring

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The process of granting a title or status anew, revisiting previous decisions regarding authority, and the act of reallocating rights or privileges to individuals or groups again
2. The act of bestowing a title, status, or privilege once more after it has been previously given
3. Reassigning or awarding authority, rights, or honors a second time or after a lapse

Etymology: "Reconferring" is the present participle of the verb "reconfer," built simply from the prefix "re-," meaning "again," and "confer," which in its sense of bestowing a title, honour or privilege comes from Latin "conferre," "to bring together, to bestow." Put together, the combination means bestowing something a second time, and the verb's form tracks the sense of an action in progress: a monarch, institution or society is reconferring a distinction it had already granted. The base verb "confer" carries a useful double sense. Its older meaning is to talk or compare notes with someone, the idea of bringing people together, and this sits behind the later sense of conferring a gift or honour on a person. The prefix "re-" is one of the most productive in English, so "reconfer" is a transparent formation rather than a historic coinage, and its meaning can be read directly from its parts.

Synonyms: re-granting, re-allocating