'reconfigure' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'configurare', where 'con-' meant 'together' and 'figurare' meant 'to shape'; English formed 'configure' from that root and added the prefix 're-' meaning 'again'.

'reconfigure' developed by combining the English prefix 're-' with the verb 'configure' (from Latin 'configurare' via Old French/Medieval Latin and later English use); 'configure' itself came into English through Romance-language intermediaries before being used in modern technical senses.

Initially it (the root) meant 'to form or shape together'; over time 'configure' came to mean 'to set up or arrange (parts)', and 'reconfigure' came to mean 'to change that arrangement again' or 'to set up differently'.