'rebaptize' originates from Latin and Greek, specifically the Latin prefix 're-' and the Greek word 'baptizein', where 're-' meant 'again' and 'baptizein' meant 'to dip'.

'rebaptize' changed from the combination of Middle English 'baptisen' (from Old French 'baptiser' and Latin/Greek roots) with the prefix 're-' added to indicate repetition, and eventually became the modern English 'rebaptize'.

Initially, the root meant 'to dip' (in Greek 'baptizein') and then 'to perform baptism'; over time the prefixed form came to mean specifically 'to baptize again' and, by extension in some contexts, 'to rename' or 'rechristen'.