reclassify
C1Formal/Academic/Administrative
Definition
Meaning
To assign something to a different category or classification.
To change the official status, type, or grouping of something based on new criteria, information, or a change in perspective. Often implies a formal administrative or procedural decision.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Implies a previous classification exists. The process is deliberate, not accidental. Often used in contexts of data, documents, species, jobs, or security levels.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant differences in meaning or usage. Spelling remains the same.
Connotations
Neutral and procedural in both varieties.
Frequency
Comparable frequency in administrative, academic, and technical contexts in both regions.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
reclassify + NP (object)reclassify + NP + as + NPreclassify + NP + from X to YNP + be reclassified + as + NPVocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Usage
Context Usage
Business
To change an employee's job category or reclassify expenses in accounting.
Academic
To assign a biological specimen to a new taxon or reclassify historical periods.
Everyday
Rare in casual conversation. Might be used for reorganising personal files or collections.
Technical
To change the security level of information or update a diagnostic category in medicine.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- The council voted to reclassify the greenbelt land for residential development.
- After the audit, we must reclassify several of these costs.
American English
- The FDA moved to reclassify the drug based on new clinical trials.
- The Army decided to reclassify the document as 'declassified'.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- The library will reclassify some books this summer.
- My job title was reclassified last year.
- The government's decision to reclassify the chemical led to stricter controls.
- Biologists often reclassify species when new genetic evidence emerges.
- The committee's proposal to reclassify the postgraduate degrees sparked considerable debate among faculty.
- The new accounting standard forced multinationals to reclassify billions in off-balance-sheet liabilities.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think: RE + CLASSIFY. You are putting something into a different CLASS again (RE-). Imagine a librarian moving a book from 'Fiction' to 'Non-Fiction' – she is RE-CLASSIFY-ing it.
Conceptual Metaphor
ORGANIZATION IS ORDER. Reclassifying is a controlled rearrangement of that order.
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Avoid calquing as 'переклассифицировать' in informal contexts; it sounds heavy. 'Перевести в другую категорию' is often more natural.
- Don't confuse with 'переоценить' (reassess). Reclassify is about category, not value.
Common Mistakes
- Incorrect: 'They reclassified the problem solved.' (Correct: 'They reclassified the problem as solved.' or '...as a minor issue.')
- Spelling: Miswriting as 're-classify' (hyphen is generally not used in modern English).
Practice
Quiz
In which context is 'reclassify' LEAST likely to be used?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Primarily, yes. It suggests a systematic or authoritative act. While you can 'reclassify' your personal DVD collection, in everyday talk, 'reorganise' or 'resort' is more common.
'Reclassify' changes the group/category something belongs to (e.g., from 'Manager' to 'Director'). 'Redefine' changes the meaning, boundaries, or understanding of the concept itself (e.g., redefining what 'success' means for the company).
Yes, but the new category is often implied by context. 'They reclassified the documents.' (The new classification, e.g., 'secret' or 'public', is understood from context). To be explicit, use 'reclassify X as Y'.
Yes, very commonly in the same formal/academic contexts. E.g., 'The reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf planet was controversial.'