Recharge

How to spell recharge

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce recharge

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does recharge mean?

1. verbTo restore electrical power to a battery or device, or to renew one's energy.
2. nounAn act of restoring power, or a top-up payment for a service.

Recharge in a sentence

• verb

  Remember to recharge your phone before the long flight.

• noun

  The pay-as-you-go plan needs a monthly recharge to stay active.

• verb

  A quiet weekend at home helps her recharge after a hectic week.

• noun

  A quick recharge at the charging station added eighty miles of range.

Where does recharge come from?

Language of origin: French

This word is built from the prefix re-, meaning 'again' or 'back', joined to 'charge', which English took from the Old French word 'charger', meaning 'to load'. That French verb descended in turn from the Late Latin 'carricare', 'to load a wagon', formed from 'carrus', the Latin word for a wheeled cart or wagon. The same 'carrus' root sits inside 'cargo', 'carry', and 'carriage', all of which still carry the idea of loading and transporting. 'Charge' entered English in the 1200s with senses ranging from loading a weapon to imposing a financial burden, and by the 1600s 'recharge' appeared meaning 'to load again' or 'to attack again'. The modern electrical sense, restoring power to a battery, grew naturally in the late 1800s as electrical technology spread. The spelling is straightforward once you remember it is simply 're' added to the familiar 'charge'.

How the word is built

• re- (again)
• charge (to load or fill, from Latin carricare 'to load')