verb
-
(intr) to recover from illness or exhaustion
-
to recover (losses of money, etc)
Other Word Forms
- recuperation noun
- recuperative adjective
- unrecuperated adjective
Etymology
Origin of recuperate
First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin recuperātus (past participle of recuperāre, variant of reciperāre “to recover”), equivalent to re- re- + -ciper-, combining form of unattested caper- (obscure derivative of capere “to take”) + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
To recuperate is to get something back that you have lost — could be good health, or money lost in a bad investment. When you recuperate, you heal and recover. Recuperate comes from the Latin word recuperare “to take back,” so when you recuperate you gain something back that was yours before — health or money. Recuperate is usually something people do after an illness. If you break your knee playing rugby in college, you might go home to recuperate. If you don't want to sound fancy, just say you're recovering. It also means to get money back, so you can also try to recuperate your losses by staying in the poker game.
Vocabulary lists containing recuperate
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for Middle School Students, List 5
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Maus I: My Father Bleeds History
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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.
“The most basic thing these communities and our families need to recuperate from that and rebuild is bringing back everybody that was taken,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025
Soccer’s technical, medical and high-performance staffs, he choose to rest and recuperate during the final summer before the World Cup.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 7, 2025
"We will lose £600-£700 a day. One day might be bearable but it will be impossible to recuperate that total cost," says Prasanna Callaghan, owner of Crumpets Cafe in Buckingham Gate, central London.
From BBC • Sep. 8, 2025
She suggested he could recuperate at a care home at Paignton in Devon, near where she lived, while she readied her house for him to stay there.
From BBC • Mar. 29, 2025
The Warlord gave his horde time to recuperate from the fiasco: a whole day’s leisure, with no recriminations and hardly any orders.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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.
