reshuffle

Etymology

It is formed from English re- + shuffle.^[2][3][4][5] The noun is a conversion of the verb; for its political sense the OED compares the earlier noun reshuffling.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To shuffle cards again: 1802, in Morrice's translation of a work by Villemert.^[2][4] Etymonline dates the verb to 1816,^[3] and the 1989 edition of the OED and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate to 1830.^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

The first sense belongs to card-playing: to shuffle cards or dominoes again to get a new random order, also used figuratively.^[2] From 1862 the verb meant to rearrange or redistribute more generally, especially to reassign the posts within a government or organization;^[2] Etymonline puts this use by 1890.^[3] The noun followed the same path: first the act of reshuffling cards (1850, or 1861 in Etymonline), then, from 1897, a redistribution of posts, which became its main sense.^[2][3][6] Merriam-Webster Unabridged describes the political sense as reorganizing a cabinet or a political alignment by reordering forces, usually without other major changes,^[4] and Collins gives a reorganization of jobs within a government or cabinet as the chief sense of the noun in current British use.^[8]

Timeline

• 1802 – verb, to shuffle cards again.^[2][4] Etymonline dates it to 1816.^[3]
• 1850 – noun, an act of reshuffling cards.^[2] Etymonline dates the noun to 1861.^[3]
• 1862 – verb, to rearrange or redistribute, especially the posts in a government.^[2]
• 1897 – noun, a redistribution of posts in a government or organization.^[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To shuffle playing cards, dominoes or the like again.^[4][2][8]
2. To reorganize something, especially by redistributing the posts within a cabinet or organization: The premier reshuffled her ministers after the vote.^[4][2][8]

Noun

1. A reorganization, especially of jobs within a government or cabinet.^[8][2][4]
2. An act of shuffling cards or the like again.^[8][2]

Related words

• shuffle

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 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 c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins