Revindication

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of asserting or maintaining a right or claim to something
2. Making a strong declaration to reclaim a right or to justify one's position
3. The process of demanding recognition or restoration of a legal or moral entitlement

Etymology: "Revindication" is built from the prefix "re-" ("again, back") and "vindication," so it means, literally, claiming something back. The base word "vindication" goes back to Latin "vindicatio," from "vindicare," meaning to lay claim to, to avenge or to protect, and it entered English with the sense of defending or asserting a right. Its older senses of clearing someone of blame and punishing a wrong still sit behind it. The prefix does the real work here. Adding "re-" to "vindication" produces a word for restoring a right that was lost or taken, which is the sense the meaning gives. The word is a straightforward compound, with no dramatic shift in meaning between its parts.