From re- + purpose.
Pronunciation edit (General American) IPA(key): /ɹiːˈpɝ.pəs/ (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɹiːˈpɜː.pəs/ Audio (General Australian):(file) Verb editrepurpose (third-person singular simple present repurposes, present participle repurposing, simple past and past participle repurposed)
To reuse for a different purpose, on a long-term basis, with or without alteration. The town common was repurposed as a practice field. The church was repurposed as a nightclub by lighting changes and removing the pews, but it never opened. 2019 October 23, Rail, page 68, photo caption:Looking north towards Moorgate, through the new tunnel being built at Bank for southbound Northern Line services. More than half a mile of new tunnels he been excated, producing nearly 200,000 tonnes of material which is being repurposed as building material in Dartford. December 13 2021, Molly Ball, Jeffrey Kluger, Alejandro de la Garza, “Elon Musk: Person of the Year 2021”, in Time Magazine[1]:Tesla has repurposed the lightweight, energy-dense cells that power its cars for huge grid-scale batteries that provide essential backup for renewables. Synonyms edit (reuse): (alter): remodel Translations edit reuse with or without alteration — see also alter, convert, transform Dutch: hergebruiken (nl), inzetten (nl), herbestemmen Esperanto: aliuzi, reutiligi, (please verify) aliutiligi Finnish: kierrättää (fi), ottaa parempaan käyttöön French: réaffecter (fr), réutiliser (fr), redéfinir (fr) German: umnutzen (de) Italian: riutilizzare Polish: zmieniać przeznaczenie impf, zmienić przeznaczenie pf Portuguese: reutilizar (pt) Russian: (somewhat) перенацелить (ru) (perenacelitʹ) Spanish: reconvertir (es), readaptar, retransformar, reutilizar (es) Further reading edit “repurpose”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. “repurpose”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present. “repurpose”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present. “repurpose” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman. “repurpose” (US) / “repurpose” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.