Reopens

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To make accessible again something that was previously shut, allowing for renewed use or operation after a period of being closed
2. Starts or makes a place or facility accessible once again following a period of shutdown
3. Allows something previously closed to become operational or open once more for business or use

Etymology: "Reopens" is simply the third-person singular present form of "reopen", so the history belongs to the verb itself. The verb is a transparent combination of "re-", meaning again, and "open", which in turn descends from Old English "open", a word rooted in the Proto-Germanic "uppanaz", meaning up-turned or raised up. That sense of lifting or raising is still visible in the way the word was built: something that was lifted up, or pulled back from being closed, is open. The prefix "re-" has a longer pedigree. It comes from Latin "re-", which entered English through Old French "re-" and carried the idea of repetition or restoration. Put together, "reopen" means to make open once more what had been closed, and the form "reopens" simply adds the present-tense ending for a single subject, as in "the shop reopens on Monday".

Synonyms: resumes, restarts, reestablishes

Antonyms: closes, shuts, terminates