What does relaced mean?
Relaced means that something has been laced again or has received new laces. It is normally used for footwear, including boots and shoes, because laces run through or around them to secure them and can loosen, break, or wear out. The word is the past tense and past participle of the relatively uncommon verb relace. Its construction is transparent: re- indicates repetition or renewed action, while lace refers to the cord threaded through eyelets. “Relaced” is not usually used to describe an entire act of fastening something already fastened; more specific wording, such as “repaired the boots” or “put new laces in the shoes,” may be clearer in everyday speech. Even so, relaced is useful when a writer wants to emphasize replacement or renewed fastening through a compact and vivid verb form.
verbRelaced is the simple past tense and past participle of relace, meaning to lace something again or replace its laces.
- Laced again or provided with new laces.
"She relaced her boots before setting off on the long walk."
"The porter relaced the hiking boots before returning them to the shelves."
"She relaced a pair of old shoes and wore them to the wedding."
Relaced belongs to a small family of words that begin with re-, meaning again, and end with lace, the fastening threaded through eyelets.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does relaced come from?
Relaced is formed from the verb relace, combining the prefix re-, meaning “again,” with lace, the fastening cord used on shoes and similar objects. Relace itself has the straightforward literal sense of lacing again or supplying something with new laces. The formation follows standard English practice of adding re- to verbs when an action is repeated or renewed.
Related word forms
How relaced is actually used
Relaced is uncommon and chiefly occurs in narrative or descriptive writing, especially for footwear that has been repaired or fitted with new laces.
Easily confused with relaced
Relaced means laced again or fitted with new laces, whereas relaxed means calm, comfortable, or no longer tense.