reconstitute
Americanverb (used with object)
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to constitute again; reconstruct; recompose.
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to return (a dehydrated or concentrated food or other substance) to the liquid state by adding water.
to reconstitute a bouillon cube with hot water.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to restore (food, etc) to its former or natural state or a semblance of it, as by the addition of water to a concentrate
reconstituted lemon juice
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to reconstruct; form again
Other Word Forms
- reconstituent adjective
- reconstitutable adjective
- reconstitutible adjective
- reconstitution noun
- reconstitutive adjective
Etymology
Origin of reconstitute
First recorded in 1805–15; re- + constitute
Explanation
To reconstitute something is to rebuild it or change the way it's organized. After your club president moves away, you might reconstitute the group by putting the former treasurer in charge and inviting new members to join. You get reconstitute by adding re-, "again," to constitute, from a Latin word meaning "form something new" or "set in order." Taking the disassembled pieces of something and putting them back together is one way to reconstitute something. You might reconstitute a group of friends who spent an angry summer not speaking to each other, or reconstitute a bowl of dehydrated ramen noodles by adding boiling water, restoring them to their original, delicious state.
Vocabulary lists containing reconstitute
Vocabulary from Readings 1, Unit 1
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Excerpt from "Speak"
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Boy 2.0
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Today its ability to threaten the U.S. and its allies has been reduced to a mere fraction of that, and it will be years and years before it can reconstitute.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
Hennessy doesn’t disclose precisely when it will next reconstitute the portfolio, but it happens every year on or after Sept. 1.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 19, 2026
Not at his attempts to wreak personal vengeance, reconstitute Washington root and branch, or engineer a lasting partisan realignment.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 1, 2024
At a time when the Austro-Hungarian empire was in its final years, Schiele turned to landscape as if to reconstitute a disintegrating world.
From New York Times • Nov. 21, 2024
“This,” Dr. Ramaswami said, “is an extinct flower. We have an impression of it, and we can’t reconstitute it, but we were able to figure out what it smells like.”
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
