early 14c., from Old French restitucion or directly from Latin restitutionem (nominative restitutio) "a restoring," noun of action from past participle stem of restituere "set up again, restore, rebuild, replace, revive, reinstate, re-establish," from re- "again" (see re-) + statuere "to set up," from PIE root *sta- "to stand," with derivatives meaning "place or thing that is standing" (see stet).