reclaim, disclaim, disclaimer
reclaim
early 14c., "call back a hawk to the glove," from Old French reclamer "to call upon, invoke; claim; seduce; to call back a hawk" (12c.) and directly from Latin reclamare "cry out against, contradict, protest, appeal," from re- "opposite, against" (see re-) + clamare "cry out" (see claim (v.)).
"Call back a hawk," hence "to make tame" (mid-15c.), "subdue, reduce to obedience, make amenable to control" (late 14c.). In many Middle English uses with no sense of return or reciprocation. Meaning "revoke" (a grant, gift, etc.) is from late 15c. That of "recall (someone) from an erring course to a proper state" is mid-15c. Sense of "get back by effort" might reflect influence of claim. Meaning "bring waste land into useful condition fit for cultivation" first attested 1764, probably on notion of "reduce to obedience." Related: Reclaimed; reclaiming.
: to get back (something that was lost or taken away)
: to make (land) available for use by changing its condition
: to get (a usable material) from materials that have been used before
- Sons and daughters are proudly reclaiming the traditions that their parents had forgotten.
- She reclaimed the title of world champion this year.
- You might be able to reclaim some of the money you contributed.
- Environmental groups have been reclaiming contaminated sites.
- Acres of land were reclaimed by conservationists.
- The factory reclaims fibers from textile wastes.
- the prisoner disclaimed any part in the prank.
- <her spokesperson flatly disclaimed the marriage rumor circulating in the press.
- The documentary opens with a disclaimer that many of its scenes are “fictional re-creations” of real events.
- one brother filed a disclaimer, allowing all of the estate to go to his poorer siblings.