Reborn

Part of speech: adjective, verb

Definitions

1. To experience a profound transformation or renewal, as if starting life anew with a completely fresh perspective
2. To undergo a significant change that creates a sense of starting over and embracing new beginnings in life
3. To feel a sense of renewal or rejuvenation as if one has taken on a new identity or purpose

Etymology: "Reborn" is a plain compound: the prefix "re-" (meaning "again") attached to "born." The second half, "born," traces back through Middle English "born," "boren," and "borne" to Old English "boren" and "geboren," which came from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to bear" or "to carry," the same root behind the English verb "bear" in the sense of giving birth. So the "born" in "reborn" is really the past participle of a verb about bearing a child, and "reborn" means, literally, "born again." The "re-" prefix has a longer pedigree. It descends from the Latin "re-," which passed through Old French "re-" into Middle English and then into English as a productive prefix. English has used it freely to form words like "rebuild" and "replay," so "reborn" follows a very ordinary pattern. The figurative sense, a change so complete that a person feels they are starting over, grows directly out of the literal meaning of a new birth. The word was already being used for spiritual renewal well before it came to describe personal change in everyday speech.

Synonyms: revived, renewed, resurrected, refreshed, restored

Antonyms: dead, extinct, perished, destroyed, vanished