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reborn

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Etymology and origin of the English word reborn

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1598 Florio
Ultimate origins
English re-Old English boren
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English born
English reborn
From the same root
English newborn ← born

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌriːˈbɔːn/[1]
  • US: /ˌriːˈbɔːrn/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English re- + born.[2][3][4][5][6] Born is the old past participle of bear.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person or soul, born again: 1598, in John Florio's Italian–English dictionary A Worlde of Wordes.[2][3] Etymonline gives the 1590s and includes both physical and spiritual rebirth.[4]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word covered rebirth in a new body (reincarnation) and spiritual rebirth, including conversion to Christianity.[2][5] From 1824, in Mary Russell Mitford's Our Village, it was also said of things revived or renewed,[2][5] and since 1841 it has been used before a noun.[2] The related noun rebirth is recorded only from 1790.[2]

Timeline

  • 1598 – born again, of a person.[2][3]
  • 1824 – of a thing, revived.[2]
  • 1827 – of a thing, before the noun.[2]
  • 1841 – of a person, before the noun.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Born again, especially in a spiritual sense; regenerated: After the retreat he felt reborn.[3][7][2]
  2. Reincarnated.[5][2]
  3. Of a thing, revived or renewed: a reborn city centre.[3][2][5]

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 m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Reborn.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/reborn. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·