Reprogram

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To change the coded instructions of a machine or system to modify its operation ; to revise or adjust plans, goals, or intentions to suit new circumstances
2. To rewrite or update the programming of a device or software to perform differently ; to modify previously made decisions or strategies in response to new information
3. To modify the control software of an electronic device to alter its functions ; to redesign or rethink plans or objectives to better align with changing needs

Etymology: The prefix "re-" is the part of this word with the longest history. It descends from a Proto-Italic root, passed into Latin as a prefix meaning "back" or "again," and then into Old French and Middle English before settling into the English vocabulary. Its journey explains why it appears so readily in the English verbs we use for repeating or redoing actions. The base, "program," reached English along a different route. It is an older word than most of the technology it now describes, and in English it meant a public notice or a written schedule before it came to mean a set of instructions. When the prefix is attached to it, the result is a verb meaning to give a system or machine a new set of instructions, or to alter a plan so that it fits changed conditions.

Synonyms: reconfigure, reset, rearrange

Antonyms: program, configure