'recrystallised' originates from the prefix 're-' (meaning 'again') combined with 'crystallise', which comes from Medieval Latin and French forms of 'crystal' plus the verb-forming suffix '-ise'/'-ize'.

'crystallise' derives from Late Latin 'crystallizare' and Greek 'krystallizein' from 'krystallos' (meaning 'ice' or 'rock crystal'); the English verb 'crystallize' entered via Medieval Latin/French and later took the prefix 're-' to form 'recrystallize/recrystallise'.

Initially related to forming or turning into a crystal (from Greek for 'ice'/'crystal'); over time it came to be used specifically for the process of forming new crystal structures within a solid (especially in metallurgy and materials science).