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reinstatement

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Etymology and origin of the English word reinstatement

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1662 N. Horsman, Spiritual Bee More words from the 17th century
Ultimate origins
Anglo-Norman re-,-mentEnglish instateOld English in-Proto-Italic *statu-
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin status
Spanish estado
English state
English reinstate
English reinstatement
English status
French état
German Staat
Italian stato
Aromanian stat
From the same root
Latin statuō ← status
English interstate ← state
English statehood ← state
English statement ← state
English statesman ← state
English upstate ← state
German staatlich ← Staat

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌriːɪnˈsteɪtm(ə)nt/[1]
  • US: /ˌriᵻnˈsteɪtm(ə)nt/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English reinstate + -ment.[1][2][3][4] Reinstate, recorded in the 1590s according to Etymonline and in 1616 according to the OED, is formed from re- and instate.[2][1] The OED compares instatement and reinstating;[1] Etymonline notes the synonym reinstation, recorded from the 1680s.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The re-establishment of a person or thing in a former position or condition: 1662, in N. Horsman's Spiritual Bee.[1] Etymonline dates the word to 1700,[2] and the 1989 edition of the OED had dated it only to 1797.[5]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline glosses the early use as restoration to a former post, office or rank.[2] From 1782 the word was also used of restoring or replacing property that had been destroyed or damaged (1813 in the 1989 edition of the OED),[1][5] and in 1916 it gained a military sense, the return of a demobilized member of the armed forces to the civilian job held before (1945 in the 1989 edition).[1][5]

Timeline

  • 1662 – the restoring of a person or thing to a former position or condition.[1]
  • 1782 – the restoration or replacement of destroyed or damaged property.[1]
  • 1916 – the return of a demobilized serviceman to a former civilian job.[1]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of reinstating someone in a post, rank or position held before: the reinstatement of the dismissed manager.[3][1][2]
  2. The restoring of something to a former state or effectiveness, or the replacement of destroyed or damaged property.[3][1][6]
  3. (military) The re-establishment of a demobilized member of the armed forces in a civilian job held before.[1][5]

Word family

  • nonreinstatement

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
  5. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
Cite this entry

“Reinstatement.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/reinstatement. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·