Meanings
present singular third person repurposes · participle present repurposing · participle past repurposed · past repurposed · alternative re-purpose
- To reuse for a different purpose, on a long-term basis, with or without alteration.
The town common was repurposed as a practice field.
3 more examples
The church was repurposed as a nightclub by lighting changes and removing the pews, but it never opened.
Looking north towards Moorgate, through the new tunnel being built at Bank for southbound Northern Line services. More than half a mile of new tunnels have been excavated, producing nearly 200,000 tonnes of material which is being repurposed as building material in Dartford.
2019 October 23, Rail, page 68, photo captionTesla has repurposed the lightweight, energy-dense cells that power its cars for huge grid-scale batteries that provide essential backup for renewables.
December 13 2021, Molly Ball, Jeffrey Kluger, Alejandro de la Garza, “Elon Musk: Person of the Year 2021”, in Time Magazine, archived from the original on 13 Dec 2021Synonyms: remodel
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo reuse for a different purpose, on a long-term basis, with or without alteration.
Origin
- Proto-Italic*wre-
- Latinre-
- Old Frenchre-
- Middle Englishre-
- Englishre-
- Middle Englishpurpos
- Englishpurpose
- Englishrepurpose
Translations
Dutch hergebruiken, inzetten
- hergebruikenreuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
- inzettenreuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
- herbestemmenreuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
Esperanto aliuzi, reutiligi
- aliuzireuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
- reutiligireuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
Finnish kierrättää, ottaa parempaan käyttöön
- kierrättääreuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
- ottaa parempaan käyttöönreuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
French réaffecter, réutiliser
- réaffecterreuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
- réutiliserreuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
- redéfinirreuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
German umnutzen, umfunktionieren
- umnutzenreuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
- umfunktionierenreuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
Italian riutilizzare
- riutilizzarereuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
Polish zmieniać przeznaczenie, zmienić przeznaczenie
- zmieniać przeznaczeniereuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
- zmienić przeznaczeniereuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
Portuguese reutilizar
- reutilizarreuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
Romanian reutiliza
- reutilizareuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
Russian перенацелить
- перенацелить (perenacelitʹ)reuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
Spanish reconvertir, readaptar
- reconvertirreuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
- readaptarreuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
- retransformarreuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
- reutilizarreuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform
Cite this entry
repurpose. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/repurpose
“repurpose.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/repurpose. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “repurpose,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/repurpose.
Source: repurpose on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.