Reprocesses

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To subject materials or information that have been processed to an additional round of treatment for the intent of reuse or enhancement
2. To perform further processing on items or data that were previously handled, aiming to recycle or refine them for new applications
3. To subject previously processed items or data to additional treatment aimed at enhancing or reclaiming their usability for new purposes

Etymology: "Reprocesses" is the third-person singular present form of the verb "reprocess," so the history belongs to the verb itself. "Reprocess" is formed from the prefix "re-," meaning again, attached to "process." The base word "process" came into English from Old French, which took it from Latin, where the stem of "procedere" meant to go forward. The sense of moving along a sequence of steps is what makes a process something that can be run again. The prefix "re-" traces back through Latin, where it carried the sense of back or again, to a very old root shared across the Italic languages. English has used it freely for centuries, attaching it to almost any verb that describes a repeatable action, which is why "reprocess" reads as transparently as it does. Its meaning follows directly from its parts: to subject something to a process a second time, usually to recover material or value from it.

Synonyms: recycle, treat, refine

Antonyms: discard, waste