Restitute

If you're in museum administration, you will certainly know the meaning of "restitution".  But what do you do with a headline like this?

"Ethiopian Heritage Authority Intensifies Push to Restitute Looted Artifacts." ENA English.

Ted McClure asks:

Back-formation from "restitution"? Or verb origin of "restitution"? I would have thought the verb form was "restore".

I leave it to Language Log readers to adjudicate.

 

Selected readings

• "'Grammar vigilantes' brought to justice" (8/22/08) — "ordered to pay restitution")
• "The snoot and the Geechee" (6/13/11) — back-formation