reinforce
REE-in-FORSS · verb
Origin
English built 'reinforce' by adding the prefix 're-' to an existing word 'inforce.' The 're-' itself traces back through Old French and Latin to Proto-Italic *wre-.
This is Curio: one word's origin story, every morning. No feed, no backlog.
One short email each morning. Free; stop anytime. See a sample →
Journey
The word came together in English simply by stacking 're-' onto 'inforce,' rather than arriving whole from another language.
Related words
It shares its 're-' prefix with countless other English words built the same way.