Reinvade

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To enter or occupy a territory again after previous withdrawal; to reassert control over a region through military or forceful means; to make an incursion into a place that has been vacated or previously held
2. To take back possession of a land or area by force after having retreated; to impose one's authority once more over a territory; to impose oneself upon an area previously left unoccupied
3. To occupy a space that one had previously vacated with renewed aggression; to reestablish dominance in a location through forceful measures; to invade again, bringing back a presence that was once withdrawn

Etymology: "Reinvade" is about as transparent as English compounds get: the prefix "re-", meaning "again" or "back", attached to "invade". "Invade" itself comes from Latin "invadere", "to go into, attack", built from "in-", "into", and "vadere", "to go" or "to walk", which is also the root behind "evade" and "wade". So the whole word means, quite literally, to go into a place again. The "re-" prefix is productive in English, which is why a word like this can be formed on the spot whenever a writer needs it. Its use is not limited to military contexts. The sense is that a force, once withdrawn, comes back in with the same hostility it had before, and the word carries that sense of renewal along with the sense of entering.

Synonyms: re-enter, reoccupy, recapture, reassault, reconquer

Antonyms: withdraw, evacuate, retreat, abandon, leave