nostalgia English · revision 123

5 Oct 2026, 22:00 by bogdan “Add pronunciation, sense history, timeline, meanings, word family, related words” current version
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+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /nɑˈstɑld͡ʒə/; /nɒˈstæld͡ʒə/ ''(UK)''; /nɑˈstæld͡ʒə/, /nəˈstæld͡ʒə/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)
+ 
  ==Etymology==
  Recorded in English in 1726,^(Etymonline) [[bor|la-new|nostalgia]],^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) coined in 1688 by Johannes Hofer in a dissertation at the University of Basel^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary) as a rendering of [[de|Heimweh|t=homesickness]].^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary) It is formed [[af|grc|νόστος|ἄλγος|tr1=nóstos|t1=return home|tr2=álgos|t2=pain]].^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary) Greek ''nóstos'' is related to ''neomai'' “to return, get home”, and, according to Watkins, [[der|ine-pro|*nes-|t=to return safely home]].^(Etymonline)
  
− The word originally named a severe homesickness considered as a disease, said to be peculiar to the Swiss and often fatal.^(Etymonline)
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A severe homesickness regarded as a disease,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) said to be peculiar to the Swiss and often fatal.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ By the 1830s the word was used of any intense homesickness, such as that of sailors or convicts.^(Etymonline) The modern sense, a wistful longing for a past time, is recorded from 1920,^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary) and the word is also used for things that evoke such longing.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1688 – coined in New Latin by Johannes Hofer.^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary)
+ * 1726 – first recorded in English.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1754 – French ''nostalgie'' appears in French army medical manuals.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1770 – the OED's first quotation, in the medical sense.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1830s – any intense homesickness.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1920 – “wistful longing for the past”.^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A bittersweet longing for things, people, or situations of the past.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # Homesickness.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)
+ # Things that evoke longing for the past.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[nostalgic]]
+ * [[nostalgically]]
+ * [[nostalgist]]
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[nostalgie de la boue]]
  
  ==References==