recovery English · revision 4390

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=mid-14th century|origins=fro recovrer}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /rɪˈkʌv.ər.i/, US /rɪˈkʌv.ɚ.i/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|xno|recoverie]] (about 1300), Old French recovree “remedy, cure, recovery”,^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)^(MWU 2024) from the past participle stem of recovrer “to get back”,^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) the source of [[recover]].^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A return to health after illness, injury or misfortune: the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The OED's first sense, a possibility or means of recovery, a remedy, is from 1387–8,^(OED 1989) and the New Oxford also gives “a means of restoration” as the first.^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Gaining possession of property by legal action is from the early 15th century.^(Etymonline) Regaining something lost or taken is from the 1530s,^(Etymonline) and recovering oneself after a blunder or mishap from the 1520s,^(Etymonline) 1525 in the OED.^(OED 1989) Restoration from a bad to a good condition is from the 1580s,^(Etymonline) and return to health specifically from 1606 in the OED.^(OED 1989) In rowing, returning to position for the next stroke is from 1856.^(OED 1989) In Staffordshire a recovery was an old coal pit sunk lower to reach another seam.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * mid-14th century – a return to health.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1387–8 – a remedy.^(OED 1989)

+ * early 15th century – recovery of property at law.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1520s – recovering oneself.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1530s – regaining what was lost.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1580s – restoration to a good condition.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1856 – in rowing.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A return to [[health]] or to a normal condition.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The act or process of recovering, or the time it takes.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The regaining of something lost: ''the recovery of stolen goods''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The extraction of usable substances from [[waste]] or other unusable sources.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[recovery room]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[recover]]

+ * [[cover]]

+ * [[recuperate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}