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• reconstruction
  reconstruction

  noun

  the act of reconstructing, rebuilding, or reassembling, or the state of being reconstructed.
• Reconstruction
  Reconstruction

  noun

  history the period after the Civil War when the South was reorganized and reintegrated into the Union (1865–77)

reconstruction

American  

[ree-kuhn-struhk-shuhn] / ˌri kənˈstrʌk ʃən /

noun

• reconstructions
  plural

1. the act of reconstructing, rebuilding, or reassembling, or the state of being reconstructed.

   the gigantic task of reconstruction after a fire.

2. something reconstructed, rebuilt, or reassembled.

   a reconstruction of the sequence of events leading to his death; accurate reconstructions of ancient Greek buildings.

3. (initial capital letter)

   1. the process by which the states that had seceded were reorganized as part of the Union after the Civil War.

   2. the period during which this took place, 1865–77.

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Reconstruction British  

/ ˌriːkənˈstrʌkʃən /

noun

1. history the period after the Civil War when the South was reorganized and reintegrated into the Union (1865–77)

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Reconstruction Cultural  

1. The period after the Civil War in which the states formerly part of the Confederacy were brought back into the United States. During Reconstruction, the South was divided into military districts for the supervision of elections to set up new state governments. These governments often included carpetbaggers, as former officials of the Confederacy were not allowed to serve in them. The new state governments approved three amendments to the Constitution: the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery; the Fourteenth Amendment, which had a provision keeping some former supporters of the Confederacy out of public office until Congress allowed them to serve; and the Fifteenth Amendment, which guaranteed voting rights for black men. Once a state approved the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, it was to be readmitted to the United States and again represented in Congress. The official end of Reconstruction came in 1877, when the last troops were withdrawn from the South.

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The program established for Reconstruction, largely the work of Republicans in the North, was far more severe than what President Abraham Lincoln had proposed before his assassination. Large numbers of white southerners resented being kept out of the “healing” of the nation that Lincoln had called for and were unwilling to give up their former authority. Ill feeling by former Confederates during Reconstruction led to the formation of the Ku Klux Klan and a long-standing hatred among southerners for the Republican party.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pre-Reconstruction
  noun
• self-reconstruction
  noun
• reconstructional
  adjective
• reconstructionary
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• reconstructions
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of reconstruction

First recorded in 1785–95; re- + construction

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Explanation

When you put something back together or rebuild it, you do a reconstruction, like the reconstruction of a neighborhood after a flood or earthquake. Combine the prefix re-, or "again" with construction and you get a word that means "the process of putting something back together." Crime or accident reconstruction help experts figure out what really happened and possibly who is guilty or at fault, but reconstruction can also be the rebuilding of place that has been damaged, or the time of the rebuilding, like the Reconstruction era following the American Civil War.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

reconstruction Reconstruction reconstructions

Nevertheless, the reconstruction illustrates just how destructive even a relatively modest asteroid can be when it strikes the ocean.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 21, 2026

His proposals, however, have been consistently feckless, including a recent nonstarter to unfreeze Russian assets in Europe, placing them under U.S. control to finance reconstruction efforts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

The Miami discussions covered "security guarantees, as well as longer-term arrangements for Ukraine's and Europe's security to prevent future conflicts, and support Ukraine's post-war reconstruction," Witkoff said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

“We were in the Stone Age. It needed to get done,” he says of the runway reconstruction.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

At the same time he showed himself to be a peerless anatomist with instincts for reconstruction almost on a par with the great Cuvier in Paris.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

An agreement with Russia to halt attacks on energy infrastructure and the restoration of grain exports through the Black Sea, would boost Ukraine’s economy, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

But in an “ideas forum” at the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora in July he sketched out some basics for what he calls “Cuba Day Zero: Stabilization, Reconstruction and the Path to Investment.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

I understand that the Reconstruction Amendments might not feel like the most compelling discussion topic for happy hour.

From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026

He said the Reconstruction Congress adopted this principle of citizenship at birth and stated their intent in clear words in the 14th Amendment.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026

Scholars have long debated the beginning and end of Reconstruction, as well as exactly when Jim Crow ended and the Civil Rights Movement or “Second Reconstruction” began.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

In June, the board approved three other seismic-risk reconstructions totaling $496.9 million: Normandie Avenue Elementary and 107th Street Elementary — both in South L.A. — and Narbonne High School in the Harbor area.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

Early attempts to present real events on celluloid sometimes combined on-the-scene footage with staged reconstructions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

These reconstructions allowed them to trace the origins of cancer clones, groups of genetically identical cells that later contributed to disease progression.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026

"It expands the geographic frame for understanding how tuberculosis circulated in the past and highlights the value of integrating pathogen genomics into broader reconstructions of human history."

From Science Daily ● Mar. 21, 2026

There ensued widespread and continuing disorganization of the trade, which had to be met by extensive reconstructions of over-capitalized companies.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 8 "Cube" to "Daguerre, Louis" by Various

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Related Words

• rehabilitation
• reorganization
• repair
• restoration

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