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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 The official end of Reconstruction came in 1877, when the last troops were withdrawn from the South.

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Discover More

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

Etymology

Origin of reconstruction

First recorded in 1785–95; re- + construction

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

Current levels of private and public investment would see reconstruction take more than a decade, it said, calling for Caracas to rapidly increase public funding.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

He also said the authenticity of the bite marks on the photo — which form a circular shape with an absence of bruising — could be challenged in court by an expert in tooth reconstruction.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

In a July 8 statement, the State Department said it is planning reconstruction efforts with Venezuelan officials that “must be swift, safe and risk-informed to support long-term recovery.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

It destroyed Carla's reproductive organs and was so extensive she was left needing bladder reconstruction surgery and a total hysterectomy.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

Rashid unzipped the backpack and pulled out three of the five small pieces of broken, charred tile he’d taken from the wreckage before they began reconstruction.

From "Time Bomb" by Joelle Charbonneau

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

"Reconstruction can become a driver of economic activity, but only if there are sufficient resources, institutions capable of carrying it out, and rules that generate confidence for investment," said Oliveros.

From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026

Both look back to Reconstruction, to the debates surrounding the citizenship clause, and to the constitutional wreckage left behind by Dred Scott.

From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026

His account of Reconstruction is infused with outrage at a constitutional order that denied Black people membership in the political community of the very nation their labor had helped build.

From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026

For example, although it is common to think of the Jim Crow regime following immediately on the heels of Reconstruction, the truth is more complicated.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

The team created digital reconstructions of the femurs of seven sauropod species.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026

If the Y chromosome from these remains matches that of living descendants, it would strengthen historical records and family lineage reconstructions.

From Science Daily ● May 4, 2026

Stadium reconstructions are "becoming more important because of the situation with television media rights", Manuel Gutierrez, vice president of European asset finance at Morningstar DBRS, told AFP.

From Barron's ● Mar. 11, 2026

Unreal has since been applied to modelling architectural projects, onboard navigation for cars and reconstructions in television news reports.

From Barron's ● Mar. 1, 2026

Dome, arches, and pilasters are all evidently Turkish reconstructions.

From Byzantine Churches in Constantinople Their History and Architecture by Van Millingen, Alexander

Related Words

• rehabilitation
• reorganization
• repair
• restoration