reinvent

From re- +‎ invent.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹiːɪnˈvɛnt/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌɹiɪnˈvɛnt/
• (California) IPA^(key): /ˌɹiɪnˈvɛnt/,
• (Inland Northern American) IPA^(key): /ˌɹiɪnˈvɛnt/, , ,

  • Audio (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, (Northern Cities Vowel Shift)); :

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ɹiːɪnˈvent/
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

reinvent (third-person singular simple present reinvents, present participle reinventing, simple past and past participle reinvented)

1. (transitive) To invent again something that has already been invented.
   • 1993, Marsha Witten, “Narrative and the Culture of Obedience at the Workplace”, in Dennis K. Mumby, editor, Narrative and Social Control: Critical Perspectives (Sage Annual Reviews of Communications Research; 21), Newbury Park, Calif., London: SAGE Publications, →ISBN, page 108:

     A narrative circulates at Mitchell, Hall about a naive young employee who, in his eagerness to be creative, "reinvents the wheel," devoting so many hours reformulating work that has already been done that he drives himself into a nervous breakdown.

   • 2012, Gerhard J Plenert, “How Can Lean Help IT?”, in Lean Management Principles for Information Technology (Series on Resource Management), Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, →ISBN, table 5.4 (The 7 Wastes in IT), page 129:

     Overprocessing. The big problem in this area is a lack of standardization. A lot of time is spent reinventing the wheel. There are a lot of similar activities, and the lead time (set-up time) for reinventing the process should be eliminated.

2. (transitive) To adapt into a different form; to give a new style or image to.

   He had the ability to reinvent himself as needed.

   • 2013, Deborah Hay, My Body, The Buddhist, →ISBN, page 78:

     The compulsion to expose, renegotiate, or reinvent the strengths and weaknesses of dance tradition offers little in its final outcome to attract the average dance-goer.

   • 2019, Douglas Gomery, The Hollywood Studio System: A History‎, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:

     When Lew Wasserman reinvented the studio system, leadership skills grew harder to find and the number of modern studio conglomerates boiled down to six, as discussed in chapters 15 to 20.

• reinvent the wheel

• inventer, vintener