refreshment

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English refresshement,^[2][3][4] partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman refreschement (“supplies; nourishment; encouragement”),^[5][2][6][7] from refrescher (“to refresh”) and -ment,^[5][2] and partly from English refresh + -ment, after Middle French rafreschissement and refreschissement.^[5] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from 1354, at first meaning "cooling", and also supplies, reinforcements and encouragement.^[7][5] The Modern French word is rafraîchissement.^[6][3] Compare Old Occitan refrescamen, Catalan refrescament, Spanish refrescamiento, Portuguese refrescamento and Italian rinfrescamento.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The refreshing of a person by food, drink or rest: before 1470, in the Black Book of Admiralty.^[5] Etymonline dates the word to the late 14th century, with the senses "provision", "aid, encouragement" and "that which refreshes", at first of mind and spirit,^[6] and Dictionary.com to 1350–1400.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th century the plural meant fresh supplies of troops or provisions, a sense used until 1848.^[5][6] Mental and spiritual refreshment is recorded from 1532, and a thing that refreshes from the same year.^[5] The specific sense of a light snack or drink, chiefly in the plural, appears in 1639;^[5][8] Etymonline dates refreshments of food and drink to the 1660s.^[6] Johnson (1755) gave "relief after pain, want or fatigue" and "that which gives relief, as food, rest".^[9] From 1680 the word was also used of refreshing the memory.^[5][8]

Timeline

• before 1470 – the refreshing of a person by food, drink or rest.^[5]
• 1481 – plural, fresh supplies of troops or provisions (obsolete by 1848).^[5]
• 1532 – mental or spiritual refreshment; something that refreshes.^[5]
• 1639 – a light snack or drink, chiefly in the plural.^[5][8] Etymonline dates this to the 1660s.^[6]
• 1680 – the refreshing of the memory.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of refreshing, or the state of being refreshed, in body or mind.^[10][2][5]
2. (usually plural) Light food and drink: Refreshments were served after the concert.^[10][5]
3. Something that refreshes.^[5][11]
4. (obsolete, 1481–1848) Fresh supplies of troops or provisions.^[5][6]

Related words

• refresher
• refresh
• fresh

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press