Restoring

How to spell restoring

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce restoring

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does restoring mean?

1. verbBringing something back to its former or original condition, often by repair or renewal.
2. verbReturning something to its rightful owner, or reinstating a right, service, or position.

Restoring in a sentence

• The carpenter is restoring the antique oak table to its original finish.

• The engineers are restoring power to the flooded neighbourhood.

• Restoring the old farmhouse took two years of careful work.

• The museum is restoring the looted artefacts to their country of origin.

Where does restoring come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the present participle of the verb 'restore', which English borrowed through Old French 'restorer' during the 1300s. The ultimate source is the Latin 'restaurare', built from the prefix 're-' meaning 'again' or 'back' and the verb stem 'staurare', meaning 'to set up' or 'to establish'. The literal idea was to set something up again, that is, to rebuild or renew it to its former state. The same Latin verb sits behind the word 'restaurant', because a restaurant was originally a place that 'restored' you with nourishing food. The spelling keeps a single 's' and the 'or' from the Latin stem, and because the final 'e' of 'restore' is dropped before the '-ing', writers sometimes hesitate over whether anything doubles.

How the word is built

• re- (again, back)
• stor (from Latin staurare: to set up, establish)
• -ing (present participle/gerund)