"R" Word Origins

reconfigure

Origin

From "re-" ("again") plus "configure."

reconnaissance

Latin

Borrowed from French reconnaissance, "recognition" — a doublet of "recognizance," both descending from the same Latin root.

reconnect

Origin

From "re-" ("again") plus "connect."

reconnoitre

Origin

From French reconnoître (obsolete spelling of reconnaître), from Latin recognoscere (“to recognise”). There is also an obsolete 19th-century British English spelling reconnaitre, influenced by the modern French form.

reconsider

Origin

From "re-" ("again") plus "consider."

reconstruct

Latin

From "re-" ("again") plus "construct," ultimately from Latin construere, "to build together."

reconstruction

Latin

Built from re- ("again") plus construction, itself from Latin construere ("to build").

reconstrue

Origin

From re- + construe.

reconvene

Latin

From re- ("again") plus convene, from Latin convenire ("to come together").

record

Latin

From Middle English recorde, borrowed from Old French record, ultimately from Latin recordari ("to remember, call to mind").

recorder

Middle English

From Middle English recorder, related to record in its old sense of "to practise a tune."

recording

Origin

Formed from record plus the suffix -ing.

recordkeeping

Origin

From record + keeping.

recount

Old French

From Old French reconter, "to tell again."

recoup

French

From French recouper, literally "to cut back."

recourse

Latin

From Old French recours, from Latin recursus ("a running back").

recover

Latin

From Old French recovrer, from Latin recuperare — the same root as recuperate.

recovering

Middle English

From Middle English recoveryng; equivalent to recover + -ing.

recovery

Latin

From recover plus the suffix -y, ultimately from Latin recuperare.

recreant

Origin

From Middle English recreaunt, from Anglo-Norman and Middle French recreant (“defeated”), from recroire (“to yield in a trial by combat, surrender allegiance”). Compare miscreant.

recreate

Latin

From Latin recreare, "to restore," from re- + creare ("to create").

recreation

Latin

From Old French recreacion, from Latin recreatio, "restoration, refreshment."

recreational

Origin

From recreation + -al.

recruit

French

From French recruter, related to recrue, "fresh growth" or "reinforcement."

recruitment

Origin

From recruit plus the suffix -ment.

rectal

Origin

From rectum + -al.

rectangle

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin rectangulum, from Latin rectus ("right, straight") plus angulus ("angle").

rectification

Origin

From Middle English rectificacioun, from Old French rectificacion, from Late Latin rectificatio.

rectify

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin rectificare, "to make right," from Latin rectus ("straight, right").

rectilinear

Origin

From post-Classical Latin; either from rectilīneāris or from rectilīneus (whence rectiline) + -ar, in both cases ultimately deriving from rectus (“straight”) + līnea (“line”).

rectitude

Origin

From Middle English rectitude, from Middle French rectitude, from Late Latin rectitūdō (“straightness, uprightness”), from Latin rectus (“straight”), perfect passive participle of regō (“regulate, guide”).

rector

Latin

From Old French rectour, from Latin rector ("ruler, guide"), related to regere ("to rule, direct").

rectory

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin rectoria, related to rector.

rectrix

Origin

Learned borrowing from Latin rēctrīx (“one who directs”). By surface analysis, rector + -trix.

rectum

Latin

From Latin rectum intestinum, literally "the straight intestine," from rectus ("straight").

recuperate

Latin

From Latin recuperare ("to get again, regain") — a doublet of recover, meaning they share the same root.

recuperation

Origin

Borrowed from Latin recuperātiō. By surface analysis, recuperate + -ion.

recur

Origin

Learned borrowing from Latin recurrō (“to hurry or run back; to return, revert”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards’) + currō (“to hasten, hurry; to move, travel; to run”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”)). cognates * Anglo-Norman recurre, recorre (“to have recourse to”) * Catalan recórrer * Italian ricorrer * Old French recourir (Middle French recourir; modern French recourir (“to have recourse to; to run again; to run back”)) * Old Occitan recorre * Portuguese recorrer * Spanish recorrer

recurrence

Latin

From recurrent plus -ence, ultimately from Latin recurrere ("to run back, return").

recurrent

Origin

From Latin recurrens, present participle of recurrere. Morphologically recur + -ent.

recursion

Origin

Borrowed from Latin recursiō (“the act of running back or again, return”), from recurrō (“run back; return”), from re- (“back, again”) + currō (“run”).

recursive

Origin

Learned borrowing from New Latin recursīvus. Equivalent to recurse + -ive.

recusancy

Origin

From recusant + -cy.

recusant

Origin

Borrowed from Latin recūsans, recūsāntis, from recūsō (“to refuse, decline; to object to; to protest”). See recuse.

recusation

Origin

Borrowed from Latin recusatio, recusationis. Compare French récusation.

recusative

Origin

From the Late Latin recūsātīvus (“prohibitory”).

recuse

Latin

From Old French recuser, from Latin recusare ("to decline, object to, refuse").

recycle

Greek

From re- ("again") plus cycle, ultimately from Greek kyklos ("circle, wheel").