recreation English · revision 10383

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1390|origins=fro recreacion|origins=la recreatio}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /(ˌ)ɹɛkɹiˈeɪʃən/, /ˌɹɛkɹiˈeɪʃən/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English recreacioun, [[bor|fro|recreacion]] and directly from Latin recreātiō, recreātiōnem, recovery from illness,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from recreāre, to refresh, restore, revive, from re-, again, and creāre, to create (see [[create]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Refreshment or curing of a person, refreshment by eating: before 1393 in Gower's ''Confessio Amantis'', in Barnhart; 1390 in the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Comfort or consolation of the mind is from about 1410 and obsolete.^(OED 1989) The sense of refreshing oneself with some pleasant amusement is first recorded about 1400,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and a means of refreshment, a pastime, in 1410.^(Barnhart 1988) A place of refreshment (about 1440) is obsolete.^(OED 1989) A verb recreate, to refresh after exertion, was used by Lyly, Pope, Steele and Harriet Martineau, but did not take, probably because it looked like re-create, to create anew;^(Etymonline) ''recreation'' in that sense, a new creation, is from the early 15th century.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) Compounds such as ''recreation ground'' and ''recreation centre'' are from 1961 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1390 – refreshment with food.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1400 – refreshment by amusement.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1410 – a pastime.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1440 – a place of recreation.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1961 – recreation centre.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Refreshment of body or mind through enjoyable activity; [[play]] or [[leisure]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An activity or pastime that gives such refreshment.^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(British)'' A break between school lessons.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[recreational]]

+ * [[recreationist]]

+ * [[recreation room]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[recreate]]

+ * [[create]]

+ * [[creation]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Re-creation, with the stress on the first syllable, the act of creating again, is a separate formation from re- and creation.^(SOED 2002)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}