Etymologically
Log in

redevelopment

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:23. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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]

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