Retime

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈɹiːtaɪm/

Definitions

1. To assign a different time to an event or action, such as rescheduling
2. To adjust or change the timing of something to occur at a new moment
3. To shift the timing or schedule of an activity to a different point

Etymology: The word "retime" is about as transparent as English compounds get: the prefix "re-", meaning "again" or "back," attached to "time." In practice it means to adjust when something happens, most often to move an event, signal, or schedule so that it falls at a different moment than originally planned. Its literal sense, then, is closer to "time again" than to any idea of going back through time. The "re-" prefix comes from Latin, where it carried the sense of repetition or backward motion, and English has used it freely since the Middle Ages to form new verbs from existing ones. "Time" itself is an older native English word, so the whole formation is a plain combination of Latin prefix and Germanic root. Because it is built this way, the word needs no special history to explain it; its meaning follows directly from its two parts.

Synonyms: reschedule, adjust, rearrange, shift, delay