Remineralize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To reintegrate vital mineral substances into a depleted material or biological entity
2. To supply essential mineral elements back into an area or organism that has experienced a deficiency
3. To add minerals back into a material or living system that has lost them

Etymology: "Remineralize" is a plain compound: the prefix "re-", meaning "again" or "back", attached to "mineralize". The prefix comes from Latin "re-", which passed into English through Old French and Middle English, so the word's core is a fairly ordinary piece of English word-building rather than a story about a single coinage. The real interest lies in "mineralize" beneath it. That verb is built from "mineral" plus the suffix "-ize", which traces back through Late Latin "-izare" to a Greek verb-forming ending, "-izein". So the word stacks an old Latin prefix on a Greek-derived suffix, a combination typical of modern scientific vocabulary. Taken together, "remineralize" means to restore minerals to something that has lost them, a sense that becomes most common in discussions of soil, water, and teeth. The compound is a modern formation built from parts that have been in English for centuries.

Synonyms: remineralise, restore, revitalize, rehabilitate, revive