noun

reclamation

rek-luh-MAY-shuhn/ˌrekləˈmeɪʃn/

The process of bringing something damaged or unusable into a usable condition.

The reclamation project restores damaged land with fresh soil and young plants.

A previously damaged patch of land is restored with soil, young plants and erosion-control mesh; clear before-and-after environmental reclamation, no claim about a real site.

Etymology

reLatinagainst, back

+clamLatinto cry out

+ationLatinaction or process

Built on ‘crying out against,’ reclamation moved from protest to revoking and calling back, then recovering possession. Its land-use sense concerns bringing land under control for use, probably extending reclaim’s taming sense rather than implying an earlier usable condition.

In context

Ernest Kleinberg Films14:55

Reclamation work went ahead at Full Steam within 2 years a good part of the Dyke had been completed converted house boats and simple office structures stood on Shore

The Netherlands: Struggle for Land

More examples

The city funded the reclamation of polluted industrial land.
Water reclamation made the treated supply available for irrigation.
The project involved the reclamation of land from the sea.

Forms

reclamation

reclaim verb — make usable again

Similar words

restoration: Restoration returns something to a former condition; reclamation makes it usable or productive again.
rehabilitation: Rehabilitation restores function or condition; reclamation often recovers land, water, or materials for use.