redevelopment

Etymology

It is formed from English re- + development.^[1][2][3] The verb redevelop is recorded slightly later, from 1835.^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of developing again, in various senses: 1830, in the Christian Observer.^[1][4][2] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1870–75.^[3]

Semantic evolution

For most of the 19th century the word meant any developing anew.^[1] Etymonline says it was first used in photography and finds the general sense by 1882.^[2] The sense that is now usual, the redesigning and rebuilding of an urban area, often after the old buildings have been demolished, is recorded from 1908, in The Times,^[1] and Merriam-Webster singles out the renovation of a run-down district, as in urban redevelopment.^[4] The verb redevelop took the town-planning sense in 1936.^[1][2]

Timeline

• 1830 – the act of developing again.^[1][4]
• 1835 – the verb redevelop.^[1]
• 1882 – general sense, according to Etymonline.^[2]
• 1908 – the rebuilding of an urban area.^[1]
• 1936 – redevelop, to rebuild an urban area.^[1]

Meanings

Noun

1. The redesigning and rebuilding of an urban area, typically after old buildings have been demolished: The redevelopment of the docks took ten years.^[1][4]
2. The act or process of developing something again.^[1][4]

Related words

• redevelop
• development
• develop

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster