Reclamation

How to spell reclamation

11 letters · 4 syllables

The most common mistake is reclaimation. The letters people get wrong are highlighted.

reclaimation reclamation

What people typed instead

• reclaimation4 people

How to pronounce reclamation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does reclamation mean?

1. nounThe process of recovering land, materials, or resources so they can be used again.

Reclamation in a sentence

• The council approved the reclamation of the old industrial site for housing.

• Land reclamation along the coast added several hectares of farmland.

Where does reclamation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin reclamare, which literally meant 'to cry out against' or 'to protest loudly', built from re- meaning 'back' and clamare meaning 'to call or shout'. In its earliest English use during the fifteenth century it kept that vocal sense of crying out or appealing, much like its relatives 'claim', 'clamour' and 'exclaim'. Over time the idea of 'calling something back' broadened from a verbal protest to the practical act of bringing something back into useful condition, whether recovering wasteland, draining marshes for farming, or recovering materials for reuse. The shift from shouting to recovering explains why the modern noun feels so different from its noisy origins. The hidden 'clam' in the middle is the spelling trap: it preserves that ancient Latin verb for calling out, even though no one shouts when reclaiming a field.

How the word is built

• re- (back, again)
• clam (call, cry, from Latin clamare)
• -ation (noun of action)