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 The official end of Reconstruction came in 1877, when the last troops were withdrawn from the South.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

Purists might refer to it as ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, but the rest of the world knows it as the career-saving surgery named for a sore-armed left-handed Dodgers pitcher.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

De la Espriella has faced a tough first week in office, with multiple cities shattered by the tremor and the government yet to publish reconstruction cost estimates.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

One of the study's major advances was the reconstruction of four stages in the early evolution of biological catalysis.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

Sharaa’s government is also facing a range of pressures due to Syria’s slow reconstruction after years of war.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

In my view, this wasn’t just a reconstruction campaign; it was part of the bigger vision for reconciliation in our city.

From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry

We spoke to David Gans back in June about the Black conventions that were so fundamental to the ultimate framing of the Reconstruction Amendments.

From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026

It was in this context that Gershom Scholem, who had worked beside her at Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, accused her of lacking ahavat Yisrael—love for the Jewish people.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 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

The Reconstruction Congress wrote this rule into the 14th Amendment and said “All persons born” here are citizens by birth.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

A mood of outrage and defiance swept the South, not unlike the reaction to emancipation and Reconstruction following the Civil War.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

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

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

This date may be taken as the beginning of the present cathedral; for all the succeeding reconstructions followed the lines of Bishop Robert's church.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Wells A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See by Percy Dearmer

Related Words

• rehabilitation
• reorganization
• repair
• restoration