Definition of reclaim

Email this page to a friend

< reckoning

re-claim >

re·claim    (r-klm) KEY 

TRANSITIVE VERB:
re·claimed, re·claim·ing, re·claims

1. To bring into or return to a suitable condition for use, as cultivation or habitation: reclaim marshlands; reclaim strip-mined land.
2. To procure (usable substances) from refuse or waste products.
3. To bring back, as from error, to a right or proper course; reform. See Synonyms at save¹.
4. To tame (a falcon, for example).

---

ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English reclamen, to call back, from Old French reclamer, to entreat, from Latin reclmre : re-, re- + clmre, to cry out; see kel-² in Indo-European roots

OTHER FORMS:
re·claima·ble(Adjective), re·claimant or re·claimer(Noun)