reorganize

Etymology

It is formed from English re- + organize.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Klein compares French réorganiser.^[7] Organize, recorded from about 1400, is from Old French organiser and directly from Medieval Latin organizō, from Latin organum (“instrument, organ”), from Ancient Greek ὄργανον (órganon, “implement, tool; musical instrument; organ of the body”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To organize again or a further time: 1686, in J. Scott's Christian Life.^[2][4] The 1989 edition of the OED dated it 1681–86, Etymonline to the 1680s and Dictionary.com to 1675–85.^[8][3][6]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its literal sense, "to organize again or differently".^[2][5][9] From 1825, in a Louisville newspaper, it was also used of demoting or dismissing a person in the course of a reorganization, often with out of or into;^[2] since 1857 it has also been used intransitively, of people organizing themselves or their affairs again.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged and the American Heritage Dictionary record the intransitive use of a company or body that brings about changes in its own organization.^[4][9] The noun reorganization is recorded from the early 19th century.^[5] The spelling reorganise is mainly British.^[6][10]

Timeline

• 1686 – to organize again.^[2][4]
• 1825 – to demote or dismiss a person as a result of a reorganization.^[2]
• 1857 – intransitive, to organize oneself or one's affairs again.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To organize something again or in a new way; to change the way it is arranged or run: The new manager reorganized the warehouse to cut delivery times.^{[10][4][9][5]}
2. To undergo or bring about changes in organization: After the merger the two clubs reorganized under one board.^[9][4][2]
3. To demote or dismiss someone as a result of a reorganization, often with out of or into.^[2]

Word family

• reorganizer
• reorganization

Related words

• organize
• organization
• organ

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins