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recreation

Etymology and origin of the English word recreation

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1390
Borrowed from
Old French recreacion via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Latin (recreatio)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /(ˌ)ɹɛkɹiˈeɪʃən/, /ˌɹɛkɹiˈeɪʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English recreacioun, borrowed from Old French recreacion and directly from Latin recreātiō, recreātiōnem, recovery from illness,[2][3][4] from recreāre, to refresh, restore, revive, from re-, again, and creāre, to create (see create).[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Refreshment or curing of a person, refreshment by eating: before 1393 in Gower's Confessio Amantis, in Barnhart; 1390 in the OED.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Comfort or consolation of the mind is from about 1410 and obsolete.[5] The sense of refreshing oneself with some pleasant amusement is first recorded about 1400,[2][3] and a means of refreshment, a pastime, in 1410.[2] A place of refreshment (about 1440) is obsolete.[5] A verb recreate, to refresh after exertion, was used by Lyly, Pope, Steele and Harriet Martineau, but did not take, probably because it looked like re-create, to create anew;[3] recreation in that sense, a new creation, is from the early 15th century.[3][6] Compounds such as recreation ground and recreation centre are from 1961 in the OED.[5]

Timeline

  • 1390 – refreshment with food.[5]
  • c. 1400 – refreshment by amusement.[2]
  • 1410 – a pastime.[2]
  • c. 1440 – a place of recreation.[5]
  • 1961 – recreation centre.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Refreshment of body or mind through enjoyable activity; play or leisure.
  2. An activity or pastime that gives such refreshment.
  3. (British) A break between school lessons.

Word family

  • recreational
  • recreationist
  • recreation room

Usage notes

Re-creation, with the stress on the first syllable, the act of creating again, is a separate formation from re- and creation.[6][7]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Recreation.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/recreation. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·