relocate

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *wre-

Latin re-der.

Old French re-bor.

Middle English re-

English re-

English locate

English relocate

From re- + locate.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɹiːləʊˈkeɪt/, /ˌɹiːləˈkeɪt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɹiˈloʊ̯keɪ̯t/, /ˌɹiloʊ̯ˈkeɪ̯t/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Verb

relocate (third-person singular simple present relocates, present participle relocating, simple past and past participle relocated)

1. (transitive) To move (something) from one place to another.

   Synonym: remove

   We had to relocate the magazine rack because we bruised our shins on it too frequently when it was near the door.

   • 2012 November 20, Nina Bernstein, “Storm Bared a Lack of Options for the Homeless in New York”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 4 November 2023:

     In the three weeks since, the city has repeatedly relocated evacuees on short notice. To reopen schools, it bused many to armories, turning drill floors into open dormitories for the first time since a 1980s lawsuit halted the practice.

   • 2022 March 23, Paul Bigland, “HS2 is just 'passing through'”, in RAIL, number 953, page 45:

     HS2 will pass in a deep cutting, right through a busy road junction which has to be relocated.

2. (intransitive) To change one's domicile or place of business.

   Alfred relocated to Colorado Springs to take advantage of the boom in the defense industry.

   • 2020 May 6, Jim Steer, “Full Business Case offers fresh insight into HS2's prospects”, in RAIL, page 50:

     On 'prosperity re-distribution', it ignores the prospect that businesses may relocate to be near HS2 stations. So never mind the observable phenomenon of major businesses relocating to Birmingham, with a veritable rash of private sector investment.

   • 2025 February 19, Jordan Valinsky, “KFC is leaving Kentucky”, in CNN Business‎^[2], archived from the original on 6 March 2025:

     Approximately 100 Louisville-based KFC corporate employees will relocate to Texas over the next six months. […] KFC joins a parade of companies relocating to the Republican-run state of Texas, with oil giant Chevron, Elon Musk’s Tesla, X and SpaceX, as well as Hewlett-Packard all making similar moves in recent years.

3. (intransitive) To lose something and find it again.

   I relocated the bird I spotted last week.

Derived terms

• nonrelocated
• nonrelocating
• relocatable
• relocatee
• relocator

Translations

to move (something) from one place to another

• Asturian: treslladar, portiar
• Bulgarian: ме́стя (bg) (méstja), преме́ствам (bg) (preméstvam),
• Esperanto: translokigi
• Finnish: siirtää (fi)
• French: déplacer (fr)
• German: umziehen (de), verlagern (de), verlegen (de)
• Hungarian: átrak (hu), áthelyez (hu)
• Italian: tramutare (it)
• Māori: whakaneke
• Portuguese: reposicionar
• Russian: перемеща́ть (ru) (peremeščátʹ)
• Sami:

  Northern Sami: sirdit

• Spanish: trasladar (es), mudar (es), transladar (possibly nonstandard)

to change one's domicile or place of business

• Bulgarian: преме́ствам се (preméstvam se)
• Esperanto: translokiĝi
• Finnish: muuttaa (fi)
• French: déménager (fr)
• Hungarian: költözik (hu), elköltözik (hu), átköltözik (hu)
• Portuguese: relocalizar
• Sami:

  Northern Sami: fárret

• Spanish: trasladarse (es), reubicarse, recolocarse (industry), mudarse (es), transladarse (possibly nonstandard)

Anagrams

• caroteel