Reconstructing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To restore or recreate something that has been altered or damaged, systematically integrating various components to form a cohesive structure while returning it to a previous state
2. Rebuilding or putting back together a structure or object that has been broken or altered
3. Carefully assembling parts again to return an item or system to its former condition

Etymology: "Reconstructing" is simply the present participle of "reconstruct," which is itself a plain compound: the prefix "re-" ("again, back") attached to "construct." The prefix came into English from Latin "re-" and is what gives the verb its sense of restoring something to a former state rather than building it for the first time. "Construct" traces back to Latin "cōnstruere," meaning "to heap together" or "to pile up," formed from "com-" ("together") and "struere" ("to pile, arrange"). The Latin past participle "cōnstrūctus" passed into English as "construct," so the base word carried the idea of piling materials into a structure. Adding "re-" then produced the sense of building again. The "struere" root also explains a number of related English words, such as "structure" and "instruct," which share the same ancestor and the same underlying image of arranging parts into order.

Synonyms: restoring, rebuilding, remaking, rehabilitating, revamping

Antonyms: destroying, dismantling, deconstructing, ruining, disassembling