recovery

The word “recovery” means a return to a normal or better condition after illness, damage, or difficulty. In plain terms, getting back to normal, or getting something back.

“Recovery” is pronounced rih-KUH-vuh-ree (/ɹɪˈkʌvəɹi/ in IPA).

Here is “recovery” used in a sentence: “The doctor said her recovery would take about six weeks.”

“Recovery” is a noun.

The word “recovery” comes from Latin. From recover plus the suffix -y, ultimately from Latin recuperare.

“Recovery” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Recovery” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a return to a normal or better condition after illness, damage, or difficulty.

The words overlap but differ in scope. Healing is the biological or emotional process of a wound, illness, or hurt mending itself. Recovery is the broader return to normal function and wellbeing that healing makes possible. You can be fully healed yet still recovering strength, and recovery also applies beyond health, to economies or data.

Recovery takes many forms. Medical recovery is regaining health after illness, injury, or surgery. Addiction recovery is staying free of a substance and rebuilding life. Economic recovery is a return to growth after a downturn. Disaster and data recovery restore what was damaged or lost, whether a community or computer files.

Recovery is what turns a setback into a fresh start. After illness or injury it restores health and independence; after loss or trauma it rebuilds stability and hope. For economies and communities, recovery repairs the damage and renews growth. Without it, the harm from a crisis would simply persist rather than heal.

Regaining strength and mobility through physical therapy after a broken leg is a clear example of recovery. Others include a patient recovering from surgery, an economy recovering after a recession, a person in recovery from addiction, and an IT team recovering lost files from a backup after a system crash.