Reconstitution

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of restoring something to its original state or condition by reassembling or reforming it ; the process of rebuilding or reorganizing a structure, organization, or system after it has been disrupted or changed
2. Restoration of a substance or item to its previous form through careful preparation or repair ; the act of reestablishing a system or group by arranging its components anew
3. The process of returning something to its initial form, often by mixing or repairing ; the action of reconstructing or reshaping an organization or framework to function effectively again

Etymology: Reconstitution is a plain compound: the prefix "re-", meaning "again" or "back", attached to "constitution." That second word comes from the Latin "constitutio," a noun from "constituere," meaning "to set up" or "to establish," built from "com-" (together) and "statuere" (to set, to place). So its oldest sense is of establishing something, and the sense of a constitution as a body of fundamental laws grows out of that idea of setting up. Put the two parts together and the literal meaning is "setting up again" or "putting together once more." That is why the word covers both restoring a damaged object to its former state and rebuilding an organization after upheaval. Both uses keep the core image of assembling the parts into a working whole. The "re-" prefix comes from Latin, where it carried the same sense of repetition or return. English has used it freely for centuries to form new words from existing ones, so "reconstitution" is a straightforward formation rather than a borrowing with a dramatic history.

Synonyms: restoration, rebuilding

Antonyms: destruction