Etymologically
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reinforcement

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:20. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌɹiːɪnˈfɔːsmənt/[1]
  • US: /ˌɹiɪnˈfoɹsmənt/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English reinforce + -ment.[2][3][4][5][6] The OED compares renforcement, recorded in Middle French from 1387, and the earlier re-enforcement and enforcement.[2] The verb reinforce (1485) is formed from re- and inforce, a variant of enforce;[2][3][4] Hoad and the Shorter Oxford explain it as an alteration of the older renforce, which is from French renforcer, in its military sense probably from Italian rinforzare, reshaped as if made of re- and inforce.[7][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The strengthening of a person or thing in any way: 1605, in Temple's logical analysis of twenty Psalms.[2] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1602,[8] and Etymonline to about 1600.[3]

Semantic evolution

Like its verb, which was first used of troops,[3] the noun soon took a military turn: from 1609 to 1664 it meant a force growing stronger with fresh troops,[2] and since 1641 the fresh troops themselves, now mostly in the plural reinforcements.[2][3][5] Shakespeare used it in Coriolanus for a fresh assault, a sense recorded only then.[2][5][4] From 1625 it could be any additional supply or contribution.[2] Later uses came from the sciences: the strengthening of a sound (1797),[2] and in psychology the strengthening of a learned response by reward or repetition, first recorded in 1876 in William James.[2][3] The verb took this psychological sense in 1901, after the noun.[2] In the 20th century the word came to mean the steel or other material that strengthens reinforced concrete or plastic (1901), and the small paper ring stuck round a punched hole in filing paper (1937).[2]

Timeline

  • 1602 – first date in Merriam-Webster.[8]
  • 1605 – strengthening, augmentation of force.[2]
  • 1609 – the strengthening of an army by fresh troops (obsolete by 1664).[2]
  • before 1616 – a fresh assault, in Shakespeare's Coriolanus (obsolete).[2][5]
  • 1625 – an additional supply or contribution.[2]
  • 1641 – a fresh supply of troops, later chiefly in the plural.[2]
  • 1797 – an increase in the intensity of a sound.[2]
  • 1876 – in psychology, the strengthening of a learned response.[2][3]
  • 1901 – material that strengthens a structure, especially in reinforced concrete.[2]
  • 1937 – an adhesive ring for a punched hole in paper.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of reinforcing, or the state of being reinforced; augmentation of strength or force: the reinforcement of the old sea wall.[4][8][2]
  2. Something that reinforces, such as the steel bars or mesh embedded in concrete.[8][2]
  3. reinforcements: fresh troops, ships or other personnel sent to strengthen a force: The garrison held out until reinforcements arrived.[2][5]
  4. An additional supply or contribution.[2][5]
  5. In psychology, the strengthening of a response or learned behaviour by reward or repetition.[2][5]
  6. A small adhesive ring placed over a punched hole in paper to stop it tearing.[2]

Word family

  • nonreinforcement

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster