Rescale

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To adjust the size or scale of something, changing its dimensions or proportions while retaining its original characteristics
2. To modify the scale of an object or system, often to fit new parameters or contexts while preserving its essential attributes
3. To change the relative size or scale of an entity, ensuring that its integrity and relationships remain consistent despite the alterations

Etymology: "Rescale" is simply "re-" attached to "scale," so the interesting part lies in the older word beneath it. "Scale" came into English from Old French "escale," a word for the rungs of a ladder, and that French term traces back to Latin "scala," meaning a ladder or staircase. Both come from a root meaning "to climb," which is also the ancestor of "scan" in the sense of rising and falling verse-feet, and of Latin "scandere," to climb. The notion of a ladder of graded steps is what eventually gave us the sense of a graded measuring system, and then the idea of resizing something by a consistent ratio. The prefix "re-" is the Latin "re-," meaning "again" or "back," which entered English through French and was productive in English from the Middle Ages onward. Its addition to "scale" produced a verb meaning to change the size of something again or to a new proportion, and this combination is recorded in English as a modern formation rather than an ancient one.

Synonyms: resize, adjust, resize, recalibrate, modify

Antonyms: fix, stabilize, maintain, retain, preserve