Reinforcements

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Supplementary resources or personnel are dispatched to strengthen a main force during conflicts and emergencies
2. Extra troops or assistance are provided to augment the capabilities of a principal group in challenging circumstances
3. Additional personnel or materials sent to boost the strength of a primary team during intense situations

Etymology: "Reinforcements" is the plural of "reinforcement", which is built from "reinforce" plus the suffix "-ment". The verb "reinforce" was formed in English by adding "re-" (meaning again or back) to "enforce", a much older word. "Enforce" itself came into English from Old French "enforcier", meaning to strengthen or force, so the verb carries the sense of pushing harder on something already in place. The suffix "-ment" has a long pedigree. It descends from the Latin "-mentum", which turned verbs into nouns naming the means or result of an action, so that a "monumentum" was something that reminds, and an "ornamentum" something that adorns. English took the ending through Old French, and attached it to "reinforce" to name the act of reinforcing, and by extension the thing that does the reinforcing. The plural form, used for extra soldiers or supplies sent to bolster a position, is the sense most people meet today.

Synonyms: support, backup, assistance, aid, strengthening

Antonyms: weakening, diminution, reduction, decrease, deterioration