reunification

Etymology

It is formed from English re- + unification.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Its second part is first recorded in 1848,^[2] or in 1849 according to Etymonline, as a noun of action from unify.^[3] The OED compares the later verb reunify, recorded from 1879.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of bringing something back to unity, or the state of being united again: 1852, according to Etymonline.^[3] The OED, which revised the entry in 2010, has its first quotation from the Times of 12 September 1872,^[2] and the Shorter Oxford dates the word to the late 19th century.^[5]

Semantic evolution

From the start it was used especially of a nation united again after a division or separation.^[2] The Shorter Oxford records reunificationist, a supporter of reunification, from the late 20th century.^[5]

Timeline

• 1852 – the act of reducing to unity again.^[3] The OED's first quotation is from 1872.^[2]
• 1879 – the verb reunify.^[2]
• late 20th century – reunificationist, a supporter of reunification.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act or process of unifying again something that was divided, especially a nation or country: the reunification of the two Koreas.^[4][2][5]
2. The state of being united once more.^[2][5]

Related words

• reunify
• unify
• unity
• reunion
• reunite

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d 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 c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam