Retrains

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To undergo training anew or to learn new skills after previous training
2. To adapt or teach someone new skills or methods after initial instruction
3. To provide additional or different training to develop fresh abilities or knowledge

Etymology: This is an inflected form, so it is the third-person singular present of "retrain", meaning "to train again or differently so as to develop new skills." The base verb is simply "re-" attached to "train," and that is where the real history lies. "Train" traces back to Latin "trahere," meaning "to draw" or "to pull," which came into Vulgar Latin as "tragīnāre" and then into Old French as "trainer," meaning to drag along or draw out. The sense of pulling and drawing along is the thread that eventually led to the idea of leading or guiding someone through a course of instruction. English took "traine" from Old French in the Middle English period, and the modern spelling "train" followed. The prefix "re-" comes from Latin, where it meant "back" or "again," and it attached to English words freely from the Middle English period onward. Adding it to "train" produces the sense of repeating or changing the instruction, so someone who retrains a worker is drawing them back through the learning process once more.

Synonyms: re-educates, re-teaches