Recrosses

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Crosses over something for a second or additional time
2. Goes across or through something once more after having done so before
3. Travels back over a path or boundary that was previously traversed

Etymology: "Recrosses" is simply the third-person singular present of "recross," so the history belongs to the verb. It is formed from the prefix "re-," meaning "again" or "back," attached to "cross." The "cross" part traces back through Middle English "cross" and Old English "cros," which came via Old Norse "kross" and Latin "crux," the source of the Proto-Italic and Old Irish forms that show the word's wide reach across Indo-European languages. The prefix carries the same sense of repetition found in words like "rewrite" or "return." Together the parts mean to cross a line, path, or obstacle a second time, going back over the same ground in the opposite direction. The word is a straightforward English compound, so its meaning is transparent from its parts.

Synonyms: crosses again, traverses again