repurpose

English

WOTD – 6 June 2011

Etymology

From re- +‎ purpose.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɹiːˈpɝ.pəs/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹiːˈpɜː.pəs/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Verb

repurpose (third-person singular simple present repurposes, present participle repurposing, simple past and past participle repurposed)

1. To reuse for a different purpose, on a long-term basis, without alteration.

   The town common was repurposed as a practice field.

   • 2019 October 23, Rail, page 68, photo caption:

     Looking north towards Moorgate, through the new tunnel being built at Bank for southbound Northern Line services. More than half a mile of new tunnels have been excavated, producing nearly 200,000 tonnes of material which is being repurposed as building material in Dartford.

   • December 13 2021, Molly Ball, Jeffrey Kluger and Alejandro de la Garza, “Elon Musk: Person of the Year 2021”, in Time Magazine‎^[1]:

     Tesla has repurposed the lightweight, energy-dense cells that power its cars for huge grid-scale batteries that provide essential backup for renewables.

2. To alter to make more suited for a different purpose.

   The church was repurposed as a nightclub by lighting changes and removing the pews, but it never opened.

Synonyms

• (reuse):
• (alter): remodel

Translations

reuse without alteration

• Dutch: hergebruiken (nl), inzetten (nl)
• Esperanto: aliuzi, reutiligi
• Finnish: kierrättää (fi), ottaa parempaan käyttöön

• German: umnutzen (de)
• Italian: riutilizzare
• Portuguese: reutilizar (pt)

alter

• Dutch: herbestemmen, aanpassen (nl)
• Esperanto: aliutiligi
• Finnish: muuntaa (fi), muuttaa (fi)
• German: umändern (de), abändern (de), umwandeln (de), abwandeln (de)

• Italian: convertire (it), ricondizionare
• Portuguese: adaptar (pt)
• Russian: (somewhat) перенацелить (ru) (perenacelitʹ)