Reinstalling

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Putting a program or device back onto a system after it has been removed or damaged
2. Setting up software or hardware anew on a machine to restore or update it
3. Replacing a previously installed application or component by installing it once more

Etymology: "Reinstalling" is the present participle of "reinstall", which is simply the prefix "re-" (again) attached to "install". The verb "install" is itself older, borrowed into English from Medieval Latin "installare", meaning to put someone into a position or set something in place, built from Latin "in-" (in) and "stallum" (a seat or stall). That original sense of placing a person in a seat of office survives in its ecclesiastical and ceremonial uses, while the modern sense of setting up software or hardware came much later. The prefix "re-" has a long pedigree in English, arriving through Old French "re-" from Latin "re-", which in turn descends from a very old root meaning "back" or "again". Because "re-" can be attached to almost any verb, "reinstall" is a straightforward coinage and needs no separate history; it simply means to install again after something has been removed or broken.

Synonyms: installing again, reestablishing, resetting, reconfiguring, reinstalling

Antonyms: uninstalling, removing, deleting, disabling, disinstalling