Recrossing

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. Crossing over or through something a second time or repeatedly
2. Going back across a line, boundary, or barrier that was previously traversed
3. Moving across something once more after having already done so before

Etymology: "Recrossing" is the present participle and gerund of "recross," which is built simply from the prefix "re-" (meaning "again" or "back") and the verb "cross." The verb "cross" traces back through Middle English and Old English, where "cros" was borrowed from Old Norse "kross," and before that from Latin "crux," meaning a cross or stake. Its ultimate roots go back to a Proto-Italic form, *kruk(i)s, which is also the source of the Latin word. The prefix "re-" came into English through Old French, which had inherited it from Latin "re-," and it is the same element found in words like "return" and "repeat." Put together, "recross" means to cross again, going back over a path, line, or boundary one has already crossed. The sense of doubling back over the same ground is what the prefix contributes, while the core meaning of crossing comes from the much older word for a cross-shaped object.

Synonyms: crossing again, traversing again