Etymology and origin of the Latin word regenero
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 23–79 Pliny the Elder More words from the 1st century
- Ultimate origin
- Latin generō
Etymology tree
Derivations
From the same root
Forms
regenerō (present infinitive regenerāre, perfect active regenerāvī, supine regenerātum); first conjugation[1]
Etymology
It is formed from Latin re- + generō (“to beget, produce”).[2][3]
Earliest recorded meaning
It is first found in Pliny the Elder,[3] meaning to reproduce: he reports that marks, moles and scars of animals are reproduced in their offspring.[3][4]
Semantic evolution
Pliny also used it of a child who reproduces a grandparent's looks, and of plane trees that pass on a defect.[2][4] The TLL finds it mostly in Christian writers,[3] who used it for spiritual rebirth, as in the First Epistle of Peter in the Vulgate.[4][5] English regenerate comes from its participle regenerātus.[6]
Timeline
- 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of features passed on to offspring.[3][2][7]
- 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of spiritual rebirth.[4][7]
- 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it in the Confessions.[7]
- mid-15th century – English borrows regenerate from its participle.[6]
Meanings
Verb
- To produce again, reproduce.[2][4]
- To reproduce in oneself (a parent or ancestor).[2]
- (Ecclesiastical Latin) To regenerate spiritually; to cause to be born again.[4][5]
Word family
Related words
- English regenerate
References
- ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
- ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry
“Regenero.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/regenero. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.
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