reset

See also: Reset, rešet, and řešet

English

Etymology 1

From re- +‎ set.

Pronunciation

• (verb): IPA^(key): /ɹiːˈsɛt/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (noun): IPA^(key): /ˈɹiː.sɛt/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛt

Verb

reset (third-person singular simple present resets, present participle resetting, simple past and past participle reset)

1. To set back to the initial state.
   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

     Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand. We spent consider'ble money getting 'em reset, and then a swordfish got into the pound and tore the nets all to slathers, right in the middle of the squiteague season.

   • 2008, Bonnie Biafore, QuickBooks 2009: The Missing Manual, O'Reilly Media, →ISBN, page 654:

     The next section explains how to reset the administrator password with the help of this challenge question.

   • 2015, Sara Gottfried, The Hormone Reset Diet […] ‎^[1], Harper Collins, →ISBN:

     With the Hormone Reset you'll learn how to reset your weight, nutrition, hormones, and habitual patterns, from cell to soul; […]

2. To set to zero.

   Synonym: (nonstandard) zeroize

3. (transitive) To adjust; to set or position differently.
   • 1895, Robert W. Chambers, Rue Barrée:

     He turned and steered his course toward some lights clustered at the end of the street. They proved farther away than he had anticipated, and after a long quest he came to the conclusion that his eyes had been mysteriously removed from their proper places and had been reset on either side of his head like those of a bird.

   • 2005, Alan Pipes, Production for Graphic Designers, 4th edition, Laurence King Publishing, →ISBN, page 66:

     The advantage of the Monotype machine over the Linotype one was that corrections could be made using precast sorts. This was especially useful for book production. With the Linotype method, the whole line had to be reset and replaced.

Derived terms

• factory reset
• hard-reset
• nonresetting
• resettability
• resettable
• resetter
• reset the dial
• soft reset
• unreset

Translations

to set back to the initial state

• Asturian: reafitar
• Bulgarian: установявам отново (ustanovjavam otnovo)
• Catalan: reinicialitzar
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 重置 (zh) (chóngzhì)

• Czech: resetovat (cs)
• Danish: nulstille, genstarte (da)
• Dutch: herinitialiseren, terugstellen
• Finnish: palauttaa alkutilaan, resetoida (fi)
• French: remettre à zéro (fr), réinitialiser (fr)
• Georgian: გადაყენება (gadaq̇eneba)
• German: zurücksetzen (de), rücksetzen, resetten (de)
• Greek: επαναφέρω (el) (epanaféro), επανεκκινώ (epanekkinó)
• Hebrew: אפס (he) (ípes)
• Hungarian: visszaállít (hu), alaphelyzetbe állít, hely(é)re tesz, visszahelyez (hu), helyreilleszt, (restart [a computer]) újraindít (hu)
• Italian: azzerare (it), rimettere a zero, resettare (it)
• Māori: tautuhi anō
• Polish: resetować (pl) impf, zresetować (pl) pf
• Portuguese: repor (pt), restaurar (pt)
• Romanian: reseta
• Russian: перезагружа́ть (ru) impf (perezagružátʹ), перезагрузи́ть (ru) pf (perezagruzítʹ)
• Spanish: restablecer (es), resetear (es), restaurar (es)
• Swedish: återställa (sv)

to set to zero

• Bulgarian: нулирам (nuliram)
• Danish: nulstille
• Finnish: nollata (fi)
• Hungarian: nullára állít, lenulláz (hu)
• Italian: azzerare (it)
• Swedish: nollställa (sv)

to adjust (e.g. after an initial failure); to set or position differently

• Danish: nulstille, genstarte (da)
• Finnish: säätää asetusarvoja
• Greek: επαναρυθμίζω (epanarythmízo)
• Hungarian: átrak (hu), áthelyez (hu), átállít (hu), áthangol (hu), átszerel (hu), utánállít (hu)
• Icelandic: endurstilla
• Italian: ripristinare (it)
• Swedish: återställa (sv)

Noun

reset (plural resets)

1. (also figurative) The act of resetting to the initial state.

   Coordinate term: reboot

   • 2003, Dan Eisenreich, Brian DeMuth, Designing Embedded Internet Devices, Newnes, →ISBN, page 350:

     A reset halts whatever is taking place on the bus and prepares devices for the beginning of a new communication cycle. A reset begins when the master pulls the bus low for a period greater than 480 μs.

   • 2009 July 7, Luke Harding, Matthew Weaver, quoting Barack Obama, “Barack Obama calls for 'reset' in US-Russia relations”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     That is why I have called for a ‘reset’ in relations between the United States and Russia. This must be more than a fresh start between the Kremlin and the White House, though that is important.

   • 2016, Mike Halsey, Windows 10 Troubleshooting, Apress, →ISBN, page 198:

     On older PCs, a BIOS reset can set the default video output to the motherboard when your monitor is plugged into a PCIe graphics card.

   • 2021 July 14, Lanre Bakare, Alex Hern, “MPs call for ‘complete reset’ of music streaming to protect artists”, in The Guardian‎^[3]:

     Music streaming needs a “complete reset”, according to a damning parliamentary report that calls on the UK competition watchdog to investigate the commercial power wielded by major record labels.

   • 2022 August 17, AP, “CDC director calls for ‘reset’ of agency amid criticism of Covid response”, in The Guardian‎^[4]:

     The planned changes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC leaders call it a “reset” – come amid ongoing criticism of the agency’s response to Covid-19, monkeypox and other public health threats.

2. The act of setting to zero.

   Synonym: zeroization

3. A device, such as a button or switch, for resetting something.
4. (typography) That which is reset; printed matter set up again.
5. The cleaning and tidying of one's home. [5]

Derived terms

• factory reset
• great reset
• hard reset
• master reset
• reset button
• resetter
• soft reset

Descendants

• → German: Reset
• → Japanese: リセット (risetto)
• → Polish: reset
• → Portuguese: reset
• → Spanish: reset

Translations

an act of resetting to the initial state

• Bulgarian: възстановяване (bg) n (văzstanovjavane)
• Danish: nulstilling c
• Finnish: oletusarvojen palautus
• German: Reset m
• Polish: reset (pl) m
• Portuguese: restaurar (pt)
• Russian: перезагру́зка (ru) f (perezagrúzka)
• Spanish: restablecimiento (es) m, reseteo (es) m

setting to zero

• Bulgarian: нулиране (nulirane)
• Danish: nulstilling c
• Finnish: nollaus (fi)
• Russian: сброс (ru) m (sbros)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle Scots resett, from Early Scots reset, from Anglo-Norman recet (noun), recetter (verb), from Latin receptus (noun), receptāre (verb). Compare receipt.

Alternative forms

• ressett

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈsɛt/, /ɹəˈsɛt/

Noun

reset (plural resets)

1. (Scots law) The crime of knowingly and dishonestly receiving stolen goods, or harbouring an outlaw.
   • 1867, John H. A. MacDonald, A Practical Treatise on the Criminal Law of Scotland, Edinburgh: William Paterson, page 405:

     In early times it was common to charge the reset of property taken by robbery as reset of theft. But in later practice reset of property taken by robbery has been frequently libelled and found relevant (1).

Derived terms

• nonreset

Verb

reset (third-person singular simple present resets, present participle resetting, simple past and past participle resetted)

2. (Scots law) To receive and hide (stolen goods, or a criminal, etc.)
   • 1995, Parliament of the United Kingdom, “Part VI, section 51”, in Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995‎^[6], page 41:

     Criminal resetting of property shall not be limited to the receiving of property taken by theft or robbery, but shall extend to the receiving of property appropriated by breach of trust and embezzlement and by falsehood, fraud and wilful imposition.

Related terms

• resetter

References

• “Reset”, in Scottish Legislation, 20 December 2022 (last accessed): “To establish the crime of reset, it is essential to prove guilty knowledge that the property has been dishonestly obtained.”
• “The rise of the reset: 'Thousands watch me clean my home each day'”, in BBC, 5 April 2025 (last accessed): “... as part of a popular social media trend known as a "reset."”

Anagrams

• Ester, Steer, Trees, ester, estre, re-est., reest, retes, seter, steer, stere, teers, teres, terse, trees

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

reset

1. (Early Scots) alternative form of recet

Etymology 2

Verb

reset

1. (Early Scots, Staffordshire) alternative form of recetten

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English reset.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrɛ.sɛt/
• Rhymes: -ɛsɛt
• Syllabification: re‧set

Noun

reset m inan

1. (computing) reset (device, such as a button or switch, for resetting a computer)

   Synonym: restart

Declension

Declension of reset

	singular	plural
nominative	reset	resety
genitive	resetu	resetów
dative	resetowi	resetom
accusative	reset	resety
instrumental	resetem	resetami
locative	resecie	resetach
vocative	resecie	resety

Derived terms

verbs

• resetować impf
• zresetować pf

Further reading

• “reset”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[7] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “reset”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[8] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English reset.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁeˈzɛ.t(ʃ)(i)/

Noun

reset m (plural resets)

1. reset (button)

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English reset.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /riˈset/ [riˈset̪]
• Rhymes: -et

Noun

reset m (plural resets)

1. (computing) reset, restart

   A esta computadora ahora tenemos que hacer reset.

   We now have to reset this computer.

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

See also

• restart