Refreshening

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Restoring freshness, coolness, or vitality to something by making it new, clean, or lively once more
2. The act of making something feel cooler, cleaner, or more energetic after it has become stale or tired
3. Bringing back a sense of newness and vigor to a person, place, or thing that had grown dull or worn

Etymology: "Refreshening" is the present participle and gerund of "refreshen," which is built from the prefix "re-" and "freshen." "Freshen" itself goes back to "fresh," and the prefix "re-" adds the sense of doing the action again or anew, so to refreshen something is to make it fresh once more. The "-en" ending in "refreshen" is a verb-forming suffix, which is why the verb can be used intransitively as well as transitively: a breeze can refreshen a room, and a room can refreshen as the air changes. Because the base is a plain compound of two English elements, the history here is straightforward, and the word's meaning follows directly from its parts.

Synonyms: refresh, freshen