Reopen

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ɹiːˈəʊpən/

Definitions

1. To make accessible or available again after being shut or closed
2. To resume operation or activity following a period of closure
3. To restore access or start something again after it has been closed or inactive

Etymology: The verb "reopen" is a simple combination: the prefix "re-", meaning "again," attached to "open." Its own history runs back to ancient Germanic roots, and "open" traces to a root meaning "up," so the word essentially means "up again." The prefix arrived through Latin "re-" and Old French "re-" before reaching Middle English, where it was used freely to build new verbs from existing ones. "Open" descends from Old English "open," which came from Proto-West Germanic "opan," related to Proto-Germanic "upanaz," a form built on "upp," meaning "up." Its ancestry reaches back to a Proto-Indo-European root "upó," meaning "under" or "up from under." That makes "reopen" a word that has been pointing upward, and then back up again, for a very long time.

Synonyms: resume, restart, reinitiate

Antonyms: close, shut, terminate