Reprocessing

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of transforming used materials into new products involves treating and re-purposing previously processed substances for future use
2. The act of treating and reengineering discarded items allows for the creation of reusable materials and products
3. The act of subjecting materials or substances to processing once more to recover or restore them for further use

Etymology: "Reprocessing" is a simple compound: the prefix "re-", meaning "again" or "back," attached to "process." The base word arrived in English from Old French "proces," which came from Latin "processus," a noun built from "procedere," meaning "to advance" or "to go forward." That Latin verb combined "pro-," "forward," with "cedere," "to go," so a process was originally a going-forward, a progression through stages. The "re-" prefix has a longer pedigree than the rest of the word. It descends from a Latin prefix, and English has used it with verbs since the Middle English period, which is why it could be attached freely to "process" to mean doing the whole sequence again. The result is a term whose literal sense is "going forward a second time," which fits the idea of putting a material back through its stages to recover something usable.

Synonyms: recycling, reusing, reclaiming