Etymologically
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revive

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Pronunciation

  • /ɹɪˈvaɪ̯v/, /ɹiˈvaɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English reviven,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman reviver, also revivre,[4][2][3] and its source Late Latin revīvō (“to live again”), recorded from the 5th century,[4][2][5] formed from Latin re- (“again”) and vīvō (“to live”),[4][2][6] from Proto-Indo-European *gwei- (“to live”).[2][6] In Old French the verb meant to return to life from the end of the 10th century, to restore the dead to life from the 13th, and to give fresh vigour to a person by the late 13th; in Anglo-Norman it was also used of a law becoming valid again.[4] The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from the early 12th century.[7] Hoad notes that the causative sense developed in English, matching the uses of French raviver.[5] Weekley explains it through the use of the intransitive verb with the auxiliary “be”, as in “she was revived”.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

To regain consciousness, to recover from a faint: c. 1425, in the Book of the Foundation of St Bartholomew's,[4] which also has the sense of restoring the dead to life.[4] Barnhart dates the sense "return to consciousness" probably before 1425, and "restore to health, bring to life again" about 1425.[3]

Semantic evolution

From 1442 the verb meant to give fresh life or vigour, to restore from a tired or depressed state;[4] Barnhart dates the sense "bring back to notice or use" to the same year.[3] Of feelings and desires, "to return, be reawakened", it is recorded before 1460,[4][2] and so is the sense "to return to a flourishing state after decline",[4] which Etymonline dates by the 1560s and Barnhart, as a general sense, to 1631.[2][3] In alchemy and chemistry a metal was said to revive when it returned to its pure state (before 1500 to 1825).[4][9] The theatrical sense, to stage an old play again, is recorded by 1823.[2] Johnson (1755) gave "to bring to life again" and "to raise from languor, insensibility or oblivion".[10] A noun revive was used from 1553 to 1680,[4] before revival (1651) replaced it.[3][4]

Timeline

  • c. 1425 – to regain consciousness; to restore the dead to life.[4]
  • 1442 – to give fresh life or vigour; to bring back into use.[4][3]
  • before 1460 – of feelings, to return; to flourish again.[4]
  • before 1500 – of a dead person, to come back to life.[4]
  • before 1500 – of a metal, to return to its pure state (obsolete by 1825).[4]
  • c. 1515 – to bring someone round from a faint.[4]
  • 1553–1680 – noun, revival (obsolete).[4]
  • 1823 – to stage an old play again.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To bring or come back to life, consciousness or strength: The fresh air soon revived her.[11][9][4]
  2. To give or gain new vigour; to flourish again: The garden revived after the storm.[11][9][4]
  3. To make or become active or effective again.[11][9]
  4. To bring back into use or fashion: The town revived an old harvest custom.[11][4]
  5. To take up an activity again.[11]
  6. To bring or come back to mind.[11][4]
  7. To put on a new production of an old play.[11][2]
  8. Of a metal, to return to its metallic state.[9][4]

Word family

  • revivable
  • reviver
  • revivability
  • revivably
  • revivingly
  • unrevived
  • revival
  • revivor

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  9. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins