Etymologically
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regeneration

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /rɪˌdʒen(ə)rˈeɪʃ(ə)n/, /rəˌdʒen(ə)rˈeɪʃ(ə)n/[1]
  • US: /rɪˌdʒenəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English regeneracioun,[2][3][4] partly borrowed from Old French regeneracion and partly borrowed directly from Late Latin regenerātiō (“a being born again”).[5][3][6][2] The Latin noun was formed from regenerātus, the past participle of regenerō (“to make over, generate again”), with the suffix -iō.[5][4][3] The verb is from re- (“again”) and generō (“to bring forth, beget”), from genus (“race, kind”), from Proto-Indo-European *gene- (“to give birth, beget”).[3] The French word meant spiritual rebirth from about 1175 and the formation of new tissue from 1314,[5] and the OED compares regeneració, regeneración and rigenerazione.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bringing or coming into renewed existence; re-creation, rebirth: about 1384, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible.[5][7] Etymonline describes the first use as spiritual, and also of the Resurrection.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The word began as a theological term, and the spiritual sense, a person's rebirth through the action of God, is recorded before 1425 in a northern version of the Pauline Epistles, translating the "washing of regeneration" of Titus 3:5.[5][3] Johnson (1755) gave only this sense, "new birth; birth by grace from carnal affections to a christian life", quoting the same verse,[8] and Webster (1828) put "reproduction" first and the theological sense second.[9] The medical sense, the regrowth of flesh or other tissue, appears in the early 15th century in a translation of Guy de Chauliac's surgery.[5][2][3] From 1567 the word was used more loosely for any revival or renewal, and later especially of the economic and social improvement of a run-down area.[5][6] Later centuries added technical senses: the regrowth of a forest (1834),[5] the recovery of a polymer or fibre in chemistry (1869), the reuse of waste heat in furnaces and engines (1882), and positive feedback in radio circuits (1920).[5][6]

Timeline

  • c. 1384 – bringing into renewed existence, rebirth.[5]
  • before 1425 – spiritual rebirth.[5][2]
  • early 15th century – the regrowth of lost or damaged tissue.[5][2][3]
  • 1567 – revival, renewal in general.[5]
  • 1651 – the period of Christ's ministry on earth, in Hobbes (rare, obsolete).[5]
  • 1834 – the regrowth of a forest.[5]
  • 1869 – the regeneration of a polymer or fibre.[5]
  • 1882 – the reuse of waste heat to preheat incoming air or fuel.[5]
  • 1920 – positive feedback in electronics.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act or process of regenerating, or the state of being regenerated; renewal or rebirth: the regeneration of the old harbour district.[10][4][5]
  2. Spiritual rebirth; in Christian theology, the change of a person's life through the action of God.[4][11][5]
  3. (biology) The regrowth by an animal or plant of a lost or damaged organ, tissue or part.[10][11][5]
  4. (forestry) The renewal or regrowth of a forest.[5][6]
  5. (electronics) The use of positive feedback to increase amplification.[10][5]
  6. (chemistry) The restoring of the activity of a catalyst or similar substance, or the recovery of a polymer or fibre.[5][6]

Word family

  • superregeneration

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ Webster, Noah (1828), An American Dictionary of the English Language, New York: S. Converse
  10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  11. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt