Recovery

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈkʌvəɹi/

Definitions

1. The process of returning to a normal state of health, strength, or functioning after illness, injury, or difficulty
2. The process of regaining a state of better health, strength, or function after overcoming obstacles or difficulties
3. The act of restoring oneself to a better physical or mental condition after facing challenges, setbacks, or health issues

Etymology: The word "recovery" is built from "recover" and the suffix "-y", but its path into English runs through Old French. Middle English borrowed the noun "recoveree" from Old French "recovree", a form of the verb "recovrer" meaning "to recover", and over time the spelling and ending shifted to the modern form. So the English noun descends from the same French verb that gave us "recover" itself, and the two words arrived together as a family. The core idea is one of getting back what was lost. "Recover" carries the sense of regaining possession, and the noun names the act of doing so. Its move toward health and bodily strength, the sense the modern definition gives first, grew out of that broader idea of getting something back, so a person "in recovery" is someone who has regained what illness or injury took away.

Synonyms: restoration, recuperation, rehabilitation, resurgence, revival

Antonyms: decline, deterioration, collapse