What does reconnect mean?
Reconnect means to connect again after a connection has been lost, interrupted, or deliberately ended. The word can describe restoring communication between people, such as reconnecting with an old friend, and it can also describe making a technical or physical link operational again, such as reconnecting a device to a network or restoring electricity to a building. Its prefix re- indicates repetition, so the basic idea is not simply connection but connection renewed. The verb is widely used in British and American English and appears in both everyday conversation and technical or institutional contexts. It is useful because it captures not only a fresh act of joining but the implicit history of a previous connection that has been broken.
verbTo connect or establish communication again after a period of interruption or separation. It can also refer to reconnecting a person or thing to a larger system, network, or supply.
- To restore a communication, relationship, or physical connection after it has been interrupted.
- To establish communication or connection again, especially with a person or place.
- To reconnect a device, system, or service to a network or source of power.
"After weeks away, she was finally able to reconnect with her family."
"The technician helped us reconnect the computer to the network."
"Passengers waited for the delayed train to reconnect with the main line."
Reconnect puts the everyday English prefix re- to work: it means to connect again, whether with a person, a device, or an entire power supply.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does reconnect come from?
The word is formed in English by combining the prefix re-, meaning again, with connect, which comes through French from Latin connectere, “to link together.” The Latin verb was based on nectere, “to bind or tie,” the same root found in words such as nexus and conjoin. The formation with re- became established in English for an action repeated after an interruption or reversal.
Related word forms
How reconnect is actually used
The word is common in both formal and informal contexts. It often carries a sense of restoring something that existed before, as in reconnecting with an old friend or restoring a lost supply.
Easily confused with reconnect
Connect means to establish a connection, while reconnect means to restore a connection that has been interrupted or broken.