An old word with a new meaning?

[Virginia P. Clark]

I was listening to the weather forecast a few days ago on a "weather cube,"
and I heard the speaker warn "boaters who are /rE'krietin,/ on Lake
Champlain" to seek shelter immediately.  Or maybe he said /rEk'krieting,/.
I couldn't get into the ADS archives.  The OED has lots of citations, but
all but one have the meaning to recreate, to make anew.  One, from 1854,
does seem to be used with the meaning I'm curious about:  1854, "Recreating
and idling are very different things."  I haven't heard the word used (in a
back formation from "recreating"?) this way before.  Is it common?


Virginia Clark
Professor Emeritus of English
University