remake

Etymology

It is formed from English re- + make.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make a second time, or differently; to reconstruct or transform: 1603, in the preface to John Davies's Microcosmos.^[2] Etymonline dates it to the 1630s, Merriam-Webster to about 1635 and the Shorter Oxford to the mid-17th century.^[3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) defined the verb as to make anew, quoting Glanvill on being remade "after the image of our maker".^[6] The reflexive use, to reinvent oneself or change one's way of life, is recorded from 1641.^[2] The noun began in 1865 as an Australian mining word for a continuation of a gold-bearing reef at a distance from its main part, now obsolete;^[2] the general noun "something remade" appears in a letter of George Meredith of 1890.^[2] The verb was used of films by the 1910s,^[3] and the noun for a new version of a film, usually with different actors, by 1933 according to Etymonline, or from 1936 in the OED.^[3][2] The Shorter Oxford notes that the noun was rare before the mid-20th century.^[5]

Timeline

• 1603 – verb, to make again or differently.^[2]
• 1641 – verb, to reinvent oneself.^[2]
• 1865 – noun, (Australia, mining) a continuation of a gold-bearing reef (obsolete).^[2]
• 1890 – noun, something remade.^[2]
• 1910s – verb, of a film.^[3]
• 1933 – noun, a new version of a film.^[3][2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To make something again or in a different way; to rebuild or transform: After the fire they remade the kitchen from scratch.
2. To produce a new version of an earlier film or recording.
3. To reinvent oneself, changing one's character, image or way of life.

Noun

1. A new version of an earlier film, usually with different actors; also, of a song or a game.
2. Anything made again; the act of remaking.

Word family

• remaker

Related words

• make
• remodel
• remix

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.