rebirth

Etymology

It is formed from English re- (“again”) + birth.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The OED compares the earlier adjective reborn,^[2][4] and notes that the sense "revival" was partly modelled on French renaissance, the source of renaissance.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A second birth in a spiritual or religious sense: 1790, in W. Huntington's History of Little Faith.^[2] Etymonline dates the sense "reincarnation, repeated birth into earthly existence" to 1812,^[3] and Merriam-Webster gives 1790 for the sense "a new or second birth".^[7]

Semantic evolution

From the religious sense of a new birth, the word was extended to the renewal of anything, a revival or new beginning, recorded from 1837 in a translation of Guizot's history of civilization;^[2][8] Etymonline has "renewed life or activity" from 1833.^[3] The OED of 1989 noted that the word came into common use from about 1850, especially of reincarnation.^[9] The religious sense belongs to a wider habit of describing faith in terms of birth, which the Historical Thesaurus traces to the second half of the 16th century.^[10] In the 1970s a verb rebirth appeared, meaning to treat a person by the therapy called rebirthing (1976);^[2][4] in Australian criminal slang it means to disguise a stolen car before selling it again.^[11]

Timeline

• 1790 – a second or spiritual birth.^[2][7]
• 1812 – reincarnation, rebirth into earthly existence.^[3]
• 1833 – renewed life or activity.^[3]
• 1837 – a revival or renewal of something; a new beginning.^[2][8]
• 1976 – verb, to treat a person by rebirthing.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A revival or renewal of something; a fresh start: the rebirth of the old harbour town.^[12][2][7]
2. A second or new birth; reincarnation or metempsychosis.^[12][7][2]
3. Spiritual regeneration.^[7][4]

Verb

1. To treat a person by rebirthing.^[2][4]
2. (Australian slang) To disguise a stolen car before selling it on.^[11]

Related words

• reborn
• birth
• renaissance

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Mapping Metaphor with the Historical Thesaurus, University of Glasgow, mappingmetaphor.arts.gla.ac.uk
11. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins