Refortifies

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To strengthen a structure, defense, or position again by adding support or reinforcements to restore or enhance its resilience
2. The act of reinforcing something previously fortified, such as a building or an argument, to make it more secure or convincing once more
3. Reestablishing strength or protection by providing additional resources, defenses, or support to a place, system, or concept after it has weakened or been compromised

Etymology: "Refortifies" is the third-person singular form of "refortify", so it is the present-tense verb for a single subject, such as "he refortifies the wall" or "the government refortifies the border." The verb itself is simple to take apart: it combines the prefix "re-", meaning again, with "fortify," which comes from Latin "fortificare," to make strong, built from "fortis," strong, and "facere," to make. The "fortify" half arrived in English through Old French, which had borrowed the Latin root and shaped it into "fortifier." Once English had "fortify," speakers could attach "re-" to it whenever a defense needed to be rebuilt or bolstered, and "refortify" grew from that everyday combination rather than from a single coinage. The "re-" prefix itself is also Latin, passing into English through Old French, so the whole word is a layered Latin construction that English built from parts it already had.