'recolor' originates from the Latin prefix 're-' (meaning 'again') combined with the word 'color', which comes from Latin 'color' meaning 'hue, colour'.

'color' passed into Old French as 'colour' and into Middle English as 'colour'; the verb formed in Modern English by adding the prefix 're-' ('again') to create 'recolor' (also spelled 'recolour' in British English).

Initially the elements meant 'again' + 'color/hue', and over time the combined verb came to mean specifically 'to change or apply color again' (the modern sense remains close to this original composition).