Etymologically
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rebirth

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɹiːˈbɜːθ/[1]
  • US: /ɹiˈbɝθ/[1]

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]

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