ˌrestəˈtüshən, -stə.ˈtyü- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old French, from Latin restitution-, restitutio, from restitutus (past participle of restituere to set up again, restore, from re- + -stituere — from statuere, to set up) + -ion-, -io -ion — more at statute
1. : an act of restoring or a condition of being restored: as
a. : restoration of something to its rightful owner : the making good of or giving an equivalent for some injury (as a loss of or damage to property)
b. : the final restoration of all things and persons to harmony with God's will
c. : restoration of a person to a former position or status ; also : the condition of one so restored : reinstatement
d. : restoration of a thing or institution to its original state or form
e. Britain : restoration of conjugal rights
f. : a return to or recovery of a former physical state
the restitution of an elastic body
— compare coefficient of restitution
2. : something intended to cause or serving to cause restoration of a previous state: as
a.
(1) Britain : a legal action to compel resumption of cohabitation between a husband and wife who have separated that is now used only as preliminary to divorce
(2) : an action based upon equitable principles to recover money or property that in good conscience belongs to the plaintiff or to prevent a defendant from being unjustly enriched at the expense of the plaintiff
(3) : an action to restore the parties to a transaction that is being rescinded or avoided to the respective positions they occupied prior to entering into the transaction
b. : a movement of rotation that usually occurs in childbirth after the head has been delivered and that causes it to point toward the side to which it was directed at the beginning of labor