What does resettle mean?
Resettle means to settle again, usually by moving to a different place or beginning life in a new community. People may resettle after relocating for work, returning from abroad, or being displaced by conflict, redevelopment, or natural disaster. The word is also used for governments and organisations that arrange for displaced individuals or communities to find permanent homes. Unlike simply moving, resettling often implies establishing a lasting home and becoming part of a new local community. In personal contexts, it can describe someone adjusting to life in another place after a disruptive change. The related noun, resettlement, is especially common in discussions of refugees, asylum seekers, and government housing programmes, while the verb applies broadly to both voluntary and forced moves.
To move to and establish oneself in another place, especially after leaving a former home or being displaced.
"Many residents resettled in nearby towns after the flood."
The intransitive use is common when the subject is people, while the transitive use refers to an organisation arranging a move for others.
To cause people or communities to settle in a new location, often through an organised relocation programme.
"The charity helped to resettle families who had fled the region."
This sense is especially frequent in public policy, humanitarian, and community-relocation contexts.
“Resettle” carries a double meaning: it can describe one person moving home again, or entire communities beginning life in a new place.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does resettle come from?
Resettle is formed in the modern English period by the prefix re-, meaning “again,” joined to settle. The verb settle developed through Middle English from Old English setlan, related to the Germanic root for sitting or making oneself comfortable in a place. Its current sense of coming to rest or establishing a home developed over time, and resettle follows that established meaning by adding the idea of doing so again or in a different location.
Related word forms
How resettle is actually used
Resettle is most often used for people who leave one home or region and establish another, but it can also be applied to communities, institutions, and practices. It is common in formal and public-policy contexts as well as in ordinary personal narratives.
Easily confused with resettle
Resettle means to establish a home or community in a different location, whereas rebuild usually means to reconstruct a damaged or demolished structure.
Resettle describes moving or arranging for people to settle in a new place, while repatriate specifically means to return someone to their country of origin.