Rehydrations

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of restoring lost moisture in a substance, especially food or the body through the addition of water
2. A medical procedure aimed at replenishing bodily fluids to ensure proper hydration levels
3. The act of reintroducing water to a dehydrated material or organism to return it to its optimal state

Etymology: The word is built from a prefix and a root that have been in English for centuries. "Re-" means "again" or "back," and "hydrate" comes from the Greek "hydor," meaning water, through the scientific Latin "hydratus," a chemists' term for a compound containing water. English speakers used "hydrate" in chemistry long before it was applied to the human body. The medical sense of restoring a patient's fluids grew out of that chemical vocabulary, and "rehydration" follows the same pattern: "re-" added to "hydration" to mean restoring water that has been lost. The plural "rehydrations" simply counts separate instances of this process, such as the repeated oral or intravenous treatments a patient might receive during an illness. Because the base noun is a standard formation, the plural adds no new history of its own.

Synonyms: restorations, replenishments