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reveni

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Etymology and origin of the Romanian word reveni

reveni1 to become damp

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1793 Predetici, cited by Tiktin
Ultimate origin
Romanian reavăn,-i

Pronunciation

Forms

reveni (third-person singular present revenește, past participle revenit) 4th conjugation[1] Old and regional variants are revena, răvăni and răveni.[2][3]

Etymology

The verb for becoming damp is formed from Romanian reavăn (“moist (of soil)”) + -i according to Tiktin, the DLR, DEX 2009, MDA2 and Wiktionary.[4][2][5][3][1] The adjective reavăn is borrowed from Bulgarian равен (raven, “level”) according to MDA2 and Wiktionary, while DEX compares Old Church Slavonic равьнъ (ravĭnŭ, “plain, level”).[6][7]

Ciorănescu takes the opposite view: the verb is the base and the adjective is derived from it or borrowed directly from Hungarian.[8] He finds the step from “level” to “moist” hard, and notes that a sense “rot, putrefaction” is sure in Romanian: Coresi writes of a balm that dries the răveneala of the body.[8] He reports Cihac's comparison with Hungarian revedni (“to rot”), from a noun meaning “rot”, and compares Serbo-Croatian ravenica, the outflow of a marsh into a river.[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from Predetici, 1793, in the sense “(of the soil) to become moist”.[4] An agricultural handbook cited by MDA2 and the DLR says that maize becomes too damp if it rains at harvest time.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

From the earth, the sense spread to other things that grow moist, and then to “to cool down, refresh oneself”; in the Bucovina and other regions one rests in the shade to cool off.[2][3] Of the air, it means “to freshen”, as when a window is opened.[2][3] Rebreanu used it figuratively of the soul reviving.[2] DEX 2009 labels the verb regional.[5]

Timeline

  • 1793 – the first record, in Predetici.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (regional, of soil, air) To become damp or moist.[5][10][1]
  2. (regional, reflexive, of the weather) To grow cool; of people, to cool down, refresh oneself.[5][3]

Word family

  • reveneală

reveni2 to return

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing, Derivation
First attested
1810 Nicoară, cited by Tiktin
Borrowed from
French revenir
Ultimate origin
Latin veniō
Etymology tree of reveni2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin veniō
Aromanian yin
French venir
Italian venire
Romanian veni
Spanish venir
Latin reveniō
French revenir
Romanian reveni
The journey of reveni2
From the same root · reveni2
Latin adveniō ← veniō
Latin anteveniō ← veniō
Latin circumveniō ← veniō
Latin dēveniō ← veniō
Latin ēveniō ← veniō
Latin interveniō ← veniō
Latin inveniō ← veniō
Latin obveniō ← veniō
Latin perveniō ← veniō
Latin praeveniō ← veniō
Latin prōveniō ← veniō
Latin subveniō ← veniō
Latin superveniō ← veniō
Latin ventito ← veniō
French avenir ← venir
French venu ← venir
Italian venuta ← venire
Romanian viitor ← veni

Pronunciation

Forms

reveni (third-person singular present revine, past participle revenit) 4th conjugation[1]

Etymology

The verb for returning is borrowed from French revenir (“to come back”) according to DEX 2009, Marcu & Maneca and Marcu.[5][11][12][13] The DLR, MDA2, Tiktin and Wiktionary describe it as formed from Romanian re- + veni after the French verb, so that it is conjugated like veni.[14][3][15][1][16] The French verb is from Latin reveniō (“to come again, come back”), formed on veniō (“to come”).[17]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from Nicoară, 1810, meaning “to return, come back”.[15] The DLR's earliest quotation is Asachi's travellers who returned from the city by that road.[14]

Semantic evolution

Besides coming back to a place, the verb means to appear again, to come back to one's normal state of mind or to consciousness (a-și reveni în fire), and to return to a subject.[5][3] Like the French verb, it also means to fall to someone as a right, a duty or an inheritance (îi revine “it falls to him”) and, rarely, to cost.[5][3][18]

Timeline

  • 1810 – the first record, in Nicoară.[15]
  • 1845 – used in a newspaper: “my first duty is to return to you”.[14]
  • 1862 – Pontbriant glosses it with French revenir, retourner.[19]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To come back, return; to appear or make itself felt again.[5][10]
  2. To return to one's normal state, to recover one's balance;[5][3] a-și reveni (în fire) to come round after a faint or a shock, a reveni la viață to survive a grave illness.[5][3]
  3. To take up a subject or idea again; also, to correct or revoke what one said.[5]
  4. To fall to someone as a share, a right or a duty; to be due to someone.[5][3]
  5. To go back on one's word.[5]
  6. (rare) To cost.[5][18]

Usage notes

The present of reveni² is revin, popularly also reviu, while reveni¹ has revenește.[5][3][11] The DLR numbers the two verbs the other way round.[14][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. reveni 2
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 703
  4. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. revení 1
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 951
  6. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 664
  7. ^ DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 926
  8. ^ a b c Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. reveni
  9. ^ Cihac, A. de (1879), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane II: Éléments slaves, magyars, turcs, grecs-moderne et albanais, Frankfurt am Main, p. 623
  10. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 740
  11. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. reveni
  12. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. reveni
  13. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria, p. s.v. reveni
  14. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. reveni 1
  15. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. revení 2
  16. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. reveni
  17. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 107
  18. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. reveni
  19. ^ Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 636

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Reveni.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/reveni. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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