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rejuvenation

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Etymology and origin of the English word rejuvenation

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1746 Thomas Short, Medicina Britannica More words from the 18th century
Ultimate origin
Latin iuvenis

Pronunciation

  • UK: /rɪˌdʒuːv(ə)nˈeɪʃ(ə)n/, /rəˌdʒuːv(ə)nˈeɪʃ(ə)n/[1]
  • US: /rɪˌdʒuːvəˈneɪʃ(ə)n/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English rejuvenate + -ation.[2][3][4] The OED compares the earlier rejuvenescence.[2] The verb is an irregular formation from re-, Latin iuvenis (“young”) and the suffix -ate,[2][4][3][5] modelled on French rajeunir and the obsolete French rejeunir.[2][3] The OED dates the verb to 1742,[2] Etymonline to 1807[4] and Dictionary.com to 1800–10.[6] The Latin adjective is the source of juvenile and is related to young;[5][4] the American Heritage Dictionary refers it to the root Proto-Indo-European *yeu-.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The restoring of a person or thing to youth or freshness: 1746, in the index of Thomas Short's Medicina Britannica.[2] Etymonline dates the noun to 1834,[4] and the Shorter Oxford to the late 19th century.[3]

Semantic evolution

Besides making people young again, the word came to be used of anything given new vigour or restored to a newer state, such as a city, an economy or a form of art.[8][2] At the end of the 19th century it became a technical term: in soil science, for a soil system returning to an earlier stage of development, especially when its fertility is restored after too much cultivation (1893),[2] and in geology and geography for a landscape or river system that returns to the activity of a younger stage, especially when a new cycle of erosion begins (1894).[2][3] The verb had acquired the geological sense in 1892.[2] In arboriculture it is the restoring of a tree's vigour by pruning, spraying or treatment of the soil.[8]

Timeline

  • 1746 – the restoring of youth or freshness.[2] Etymonline dates the noun to 1834.[4]
  • 1893 – in soil science, a soil's return to an earlier stage of development.[2]
  • 1894 – in geology and geography, the return of a landscape or river system to a younger stage of activity.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act of making someone young again, or the state of being made young; the restoring of youthful vigour or appearance.[8][2][1]
  2. The renewal of something old or worn, restoring it to a fresh or vital condition: the rejuvenation of the old harbour district.[8][2]
  3. (geology) The renewed erosive activity of a stream, usually after the land has risen, giving a landscape the features of a younger one.[3][2]
  4. (soil science) The return of a soil to an earlier stage of development, especially the restoring of its fertility.[2]
  5. The restoring of vigour to a tree by pruning, spraying or treating the soil.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
Cite this entry

“Rejuvenation.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/rejuvenation. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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