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re·cruit (rĭ-krt)
Share:
v. re·cruit·ed, re·cruit·ing, re·cruits
v.tr.
1.
a. To enlist (persons) in military service.
b. To strengthen or raise (an armed force) by enlistment.
2. To hire or enroll, or seek to hire or enroll (new employees, members, or students).
3. To renew or restore (health or vitality, for example).
v.intr.
1. To enlist personnel in a military force.
2. To recruit new employees, members, or students.
n.
1. A newly engaged member of a military force, especially one of the lowest rank or grade.
2. A new member of an organization.

[French recruter, from obsolete recrute, recruit, variant of recrue, from feminine past participle of recroître, to grow again, from Old French recroistre : re-, re- + croistre, to grow (from Latin crēscere; see ker-2 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots).]

re·cruiter n.
re·cruitment n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.