Renaissance

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɹəˈneɪs(ə)ns/

Definitions

1. A period of renewed interest in art, literature, and learning, especially the cultural movement in Europe from the 14th to 17th centuries
2. A historical era marked by the revival of classical art, literature, and learning primarily in Europe ; a renewal or rebirth of activity or interest in any field or area
3. A time period emphasizing the rediscovery of classical knowledge and flourishing creativity in Europe during the late Middle Ages and early modern era ; a resurgence or new wave of growth and development in various disciplines

Etymology: The word "renaissance" is simply the French word for "rebirth," borrowed into English directly from French, where it was used for the revival of classical learning and arts in Italy and then across Europe. The French noun is built from "re-" meaning "again" and "naissance," meaning "birth," which itself comes from Latin "nascentia," the act of being born. Its meaning as a named historical period was not an ancient idea. The label was applied retrospectively to the cultural flowering of the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, when painters, writers and scholars looked back to Greek and Roman models. The sense of a rebirth of learning was a deliberate framing, so the period was understood by its own later interpreters as a return to something lost.

Synonyms: revival, rebirth, renewal, resurgence, restoration

Antonyms: decline, deterioration, collapse, cessation, death