Reincarnate

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. to be born again in a new body or form, either as a spiritual rebirth or as a repeated manifestation of a concept or idea in a different physical embodiment
2. To come back to life in another physical form or identity after death
3. To undergo rebirth in a new body, continuing existence beyond a previous physical life

Etymology: Reincarnate is a plain English compound: the prefix "re-", meaning "again", attached to "incarnate", which came from Latin "incarnatus", "made flesh", from "in-" plus "caro", "flesh." So the word literally means to make flesh again, or to put something back into a body. The sense of "in the flesh" carried by "incarnate" is what gives "reincarnate" its bodily core, even when it is used for spirits or ideas rather than people. The "re-" element arrived through Old French, which had inherited it from Latin, where it already meant "back" or "again." English took it in as a productive prefix and used it freely to build new verbs, so "reincarnate" follows the same pattern as "reappear" or "rebuild." The verb itself is the English formation, built on the existing word "incarnate."

Synonyms: reborn, resurrected