Rejoin

How to spell rejoin

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce rejoin

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does rejoin mean?

1. verbTo join, return to, or come back together with something or someone after a separation.
2. verbTo say something in answer, especially as a quick or sharp reply.

Rejoin in a sentence

• After the break she hurried back to rejoin her colleagues in the meeting room.

• She was quick to rejoin that the figures had already been checked twice.

• He plans to rejoin the gym once his injury has fully healed.

• The lawyer paused before he chose to rejoin to the opposing argument.

Where does rejoin come from?

Language of origin: French

This word reaches English through Old French rejoindre, built from the prefix re-, meaning 'again' or 'back', and joindre, 'to join', which itself descends from the Latin iungere, 'to fasten together' or 'yoke'. The same iungere lies behind a whole family of English words including 'junction', 'conjugal', and even 'yoga', since the underlying Indo-European root meant a yoking together. English borrowed rejoin in the 1400s with the plain physical sense of joining or coming together again. A second, more specialised sense arose almost at once in legal and conversational use: to 'rejoin' meant to answer a reply, and from this came the noun 'rejoinder' for a sharp retort. The spelling stays transparent because the prefix re- simply sits in front of the familiar word join, which is exactly the hook that helps a writer keep it intact.

How the word is built

• re- (again, back)
• join (from Latin iungere: to join, connect)