Refasten

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To reattach a previously loosened or detached item in a secure manner while ensuring it remains firmly fastened again
2. To secure something once more after it has come undone or been removed
3. The act of putting something back in place firmly after it has been loosened or taken off

Etymology: "Refasten" is a plain compound: the prefix "re-", meaning "again" or "back", attached to "fasten", so the verb means to fasten something once more. The prefix "re-" has a long pedigree, traceable back to the Proto-Italic root and the Latin "re-", which English inherited through Old French and Middle English. "Fasten" itself is the older half of the pair, so the verb is a straightforward English formation on a native stem. Because the word is built from two transparent parts, its meaning follows directly from them: fastening, then fastening again. It is not a word with a dramatic shift in sense, and no one coined it for a particular occasion. Its interest lies mainly in the prefix, which has served English for many centuries as a flexible way to repeat or reverse an action.

Synonyms: reattach, secure

Antonyms: loosen, detach