Refresh

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ɹiˈfɹɛʃ/

Definitions

1. To restore energy or vitality to something, or to update information to its most current state
2. To invigorate or revitalize by providing new energy, as well as to bring something up to date with the latest information available
3. To reinvigorate or rejuvenate something by renewing energy or vitality, and to bring information up to its most recent version

Etymology: "Refresh" is built from two familiar parts: the prefix "re-", meaning again, and "fresh". The word passed into English from Old French "refrescher", meaning to make cool or new again, and that French verb itself came from "fresh" with the same "re-" prefix. The Middle English forms, which appear in the records as "refreshen" and "refreschen", show the word already in use in medieval English before "fresh" had shifted toward its modern senses of new and clean. The core idea is therefore literal renewal. Something that had gone stale, hot, or worn was made fresh again, whether by cooling, by cleaning, or by adding new material. Restoring lost energy is the figurative extension of that physical sense: a tired body or mind is treated like a faded or overheated thing that can be made new once more. The modern French descendant, "rafraîchir", still keeps the same meaning of chilling or freshening, so the word's original picture of cool, renewed air survives across both languages.

Synonyms: revive, rejuvenate, restore, renew, regenerate

Antonyms: tire, weary, deplete