Meaning & use
reinhabit
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Meanings
verbtransitive
to live in a place again after having left it, or to return to a former home.
Grammar: Takes an object: 'reinhabit the forest'. Often used in passive: 'The area was reinhabited.'
Patterns
- reinhabit a place
- be reinhabited by someone
After the war, many families returned to reinhabit their villages.
The wolves slowly began to reinhabit the national park.
The old house was reinhabited by a young couple.
verbtransitivetechnical
to restore a natural environment so that plants and animals can live there again.
Grammar: Usually used in environmental contexts: 'reinhabit the wetlands'.
Patterns
- reinhabit an area
- reinhabit a habitat
Conservationists hope to reinhabit the wetland with native birds.
The project aims to reinhabit the abandoned farmland with wildflowers.
Beavers have begun to reinhabit the river after decades of absence.
Word forms
| third person singular | reinhabits |
|---|---|
| past tense | reinhabited |
| past participle | reinhabited |
| -ing form | reinhabiting |
Common combinations
- reinhabit an area
- Birds have started to reinhabit the area after the cleanup.
- reinhabit a region
- The species is slowly reinhabiting the region.
- reinhabit the land
- The tribe was allowed to reinhabit the land.
Synonyms and how they differ
- resettle
- Resettle means to move to a new place and live there, often after being forced to leave; reinhabit focuses on returning to the same place.
- repopulate
- Repopulate means to fill an area with people or animals again, often used for a whole population, while reinhabit is used for individuals or groups living there.
Opposites
Word family
- inhabit verb
- To live in a place.
- inhabitant noun
- A person or animal that lives in a particular place.
- habitat noun
- The natural home of an animal or plant.
Commonly confused: reinhabit or inhabit?
reinhabit vs inhabit
Inhabit means to live in a place; reinhabit means to live in it again after leaving.
Practice
After the forest fire, it took years for animals to ______ the area.
Choose one answer.
'Reinhabit' means to live in a place again, which fits animals returning after a fire. The other options are unrelated verbs that do not describe living in a place.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “reinhabit”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.