re-enactment

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A performance that acts out a past event, often in costume, to show how it happened.

   Grammar: Countable noun, often followed by of: a re-enactment of the battle.

   Patterns

   • a re-enactment of something

   Hundreds of volunteers took part in the re-enactment of the battle.

   The school trip included a re-enactment of life in a Roman fort.

   Thousands of spectators watched the annual re-enactment of the town's founding.

2. 2nouncountablelegal

   An acting out of a crime, often by police or witnesses, to check or show how it took place.

   Grammar: Countable noun used in investigations: a police re-enactment of the crime.

   Patterns

   • a re-enactment of the crime

   Detectives staged a re-enactment of the crime to test the witness's story.

   A television re-enactment of the robbery prompted new tips from viewers.

Word forms

Common combinations

historical re-enactment

Historical re-enactment is a hobby for many history fans.

battle re-enactment

The battle re-enactment drew a huge crowd to the fields.

crime re-enactment

The crime re-enactment helped police trace the suspect's route.

stage a re-enactment

The village stages a re-enactment every summer.

Synonyms and how they differ

recreation

Recreation of an event is similar but can also mean leisure, which makes re-enactment clearer.

reconstruction

Reconstruction is the term police and historians use for rebuilding events from evidence, and it may involve models rather than actors.

pageant

A pageant is a broader show of costume and procession, while a re-enactment aims at a specific event.

Word family

re-enact verb

to act out again

re-enactor noun

someone who takes part in a re-enactment

enactment noun

the act of making a law or performing

Commonly confused: re-enactment or reenactment?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “re-enactment”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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