reclaim

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman reclaimer (noun recleim), Middle French reclamer (noun reclaim), from Latin reclāmāre.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ɹɪˈkleɪm/, /ɹiːˈkleɪm/, /ˈɹiːkleɪm/
• Rhymes: -eɪm

Verb

reclaim (third-person singular simple present reclaims, present participle reclaiming, simple past and past participle reclaimed)

1. ​(transitive) To return land to a suitable condition for use.
2. (transitive) To obtain useful products from waste; to recycle.
3. (transitive) To return someone to a proper course of action; to reform.
4. (transitive) To claim something back; to repossess.
5. (transitive) To tame or domesticate a wild animal.

Translations

to return land to a suitable condition

• Finnish: kunnostaa (fi)

• Jèrriais: r'cliâmer

to recycle — see recycle

to return someone to a proper course of action

• Finnish: ojentaa (fi)

to repossess

• Finnish: saada takaisin (fi)

• Spanish: reclamar (es)

to tame or domesticate a wild animal — see tame

Noun

reclaim (plural reclaims)

1. (obsolete, falconry) The calling back of a hawk.
2. (obsolete) The bringing back or recalling of a person; the fetching of someone back.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.x:

     The louing couple need no reskew feare, / But leasure had, and libertie to frame / Their purpost flight, free from all mens reclame [...].

3. An effort to take something back, to reclaim something.

Anagrams

• claimer
• miracle