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bluejay999
New Member
India-Hindi
- Aug 28, 2009
- #1
Hi,
I saw a lot of documents mentioning reenable or re-enable. Can we really use this word.
If not, is there an alternate word that we can use in this context.
"To reenable the assists, follow the same procedure...."
Cheers!
BJ
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a little edgy
Senior Member
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
English
- Aug 28, 2009
- #2
I have no idea if this is now a real word, but, since a process can be "enabled," I suppose it can be re-enabled. As for the spelling, we do say (or, rather, spell) "reentry" and "reenact." Personally, I find the "reen" combination rather odd-looking; until the "reenable" spelling is firmly established, I would tend to write re-enable.
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bluejay999
New Member
India-Hindi
- Aug 28, 2009
- #3
Thanks for that!!
Yes, I agree that the reen combination does look odd. That's also the reason for me to come to this forum.
As for now, I will try using re-enable until I find another word for the same.
Best Regards,
BJ
pickarooney
Senior Member
Provence, France
English (Ireland)
- Aug 28, 2009
- #4
You could use 'reactivate' if you prefer but be sure to keep it consistent (activate, disactivate).
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bluejay999
New Member
India-Hindi
- Aug 28, 2009
- #5
Thanks again. But, I feel that "enable" is more appropriate. But, is there a word disactivate? I am hearing it for the first time. I guess you meant deactivate.
Thanks!
BJ
pickarooney
Senior Member
Provence, France
English (Ireland)
- Aug 28, 2009
- #6
No, there is in fact no such word as 'disactivate'. I was thinking of the French word when I typed that, sorry.
I think, for clarity's sake, if you prefer to use enable you should use disable and re(-)enable. If you change the verb it may not be clear to the reader that you mean 'enable again'.
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bluejay999
New Member
India-Hindi
- Aug 28, 2009
- #7
Thanks for the clarification and I agree with you. For this context, I should stick to the verb "enable" and "re-enable".
Regards,
BJ
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Colonel_cl
New Member
English-US
- Oct 11, 2018
- #8
As of today, reenable is not in the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary (my personal word bible) so even though I like ditching hyphens when able and am not bothered by the look of reen- (although I am a bit concerned about the phonetic implications), I will reluctantly switch to using re-enable. I agree that the distinction between enable and activate is too important to consider using reactivate as a workaround.
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wivaca
New Member
English
- Apr 6, 2022
- #9
I just found this thread because I had the same question about re-enable vs reenable, which comes across as reen-able without the hyphenation. It got me thinking about why it is important to stress the enabling is being repeated in the first place. If my documentation directs users to disable then re-enable (or reenable), then why not simply say, "Disable, then enable the feature"? The order of events makes it clear the enable follows disable, so using re-enable instead or other variants is not adding clarity.
Packard
Senior Member
USA, English
- Apr 6, 2022
- #10
I looked at a couple of reputable dictionaries and they don't show it as a word. Wiktionary does, but I don't quote that source.
Collins, Merriam-Webster and Cambridge all leave it out. I would call it a back-formed-word-of-little-use. I would not use it myself.
Sam S
New Member
American English
- Mar 29, 2024
- #11
Jumping into this old thread to provide an example of when re-enable is used:
I manage a file server in which file sharing has been enabled -- and this is controlled by a checkbox next to the word "Enable."
When we were doing server maintenance, I disabled file sharing (unchecked the Enable box) until the maintenance was done.
When everything was ready, I "re-enabled" the file sharing so that users could access it again.
As "Enable" is the baked-in word for the feature, no replacement word will suffice, and so "re-enabled" is the most efficient way to say, "this formerly enabled feature was enabled once again."
(All that said, I'd still like an official decision by the lexicologist as to whether it should be hyphenated!)
sdgraham
Senior Member
Oregon, USA
USA English
- Mar 29, 2024
- #12
Sam S said:
All that said, I'd still like an official decision by the lexicologist as to whether it should be hyphenated!
Well, we have no official lexicologist, but ...........
The Associated Press Stylebook, the bible for most American newspapers and journalism schools, says:
AVOID DUPLICATED VOWELS, TRIPLED CONSONANTS: Examples: anti-intellectual, shell-like. But double-e combinations usually don’t get a hyphen: preempted, reelected. (Exception added in 2019, reflecting common usage.)
On the other hand, it also says:
Use of the hyphen is far from standardized. It can be a matter of taste, judgment and style sense. Think of hyphens as an aid to readers’ comprehension. If a hyphen makes the meaning clearer, use it. If it just adds clutter and distraction to the sentence, don’t use it.
heypresto
Senior Member
South East England
English - England
- Mar 29, 2024
- #13
Sam S said:
(All that said, I'd still like an official decision by the lexicologist as to whether it should be hyphenated!)
According to the OED, it's been hyphened since at least 1633:
1633 Thus are wee re-enabled to pay him the debt of Glory. T. Adams, Commentary 2 Peter (iii. 18) 1608
kentix
Senior Member
English - U.S.
- Mar 29, 2024
- #14
I would use it in that word
Keith Bradford
Senior Member
Brittany, NW France
English (Midlands UK)
- Mar 29, 2024
- #15
heypresto said:
According to the OED, it's been hyphened since at least 1633:
1633 Thus are wee re-enabled to pay him the debt of Glory. T. Adams, Commentary 2 Peter (iii. 18) 1608
Yes, but that's an argument for dropping the hyphen today: we've now had 350 years to get used to it!
Fibonaccio
Senior Member
Fairfield, CT
Tatar; Russian
- Mar 29, 2024
- #16
Personally, I would use it in that word - for readability.
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