Renew

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈnjuː/

Definitions

1. to restore something to a fresh or valid state, or to resume an activity after an interruption
2. to make something new again or to reinstate a previous condition, as well as to recommence an action after it has been paused
3. to refresh or regenerate an object or concept in its original form, alongside the act of beginning an activity once more after halting

Etymology: The verb "renew" is a case of an English word that was once spelled differently and then reshaped by a Latin lookalike. Its ancestor was the Old English "nīewian," meaning simply to make new again, built from the everyday word "new" with the prefix "re-" added. That plain, home-grown pairing has been part of the language since the earliest English, and it tells you exactly what the word was always about. The Middle English form was "anewen," where the initial "a-" was a prefix that had attached itself, probably by a mistaken division of "a new." Over time the spelling and sound shifted to "renewen," which may reflect the influence of Latin "renovāre," "to renovate," a word with the same sense. The English word did not borrow from Latin; the Latin word simply seemed to fit so well that it nudged the form into line. The word has relatives across the Germanic languages, including Old High German "giniuwōn," Middle High German "geniuwen," and Old Norse "nýja," all carrying the same idea of making something new again.

Synonyms: revive, restore, regenerate, rejuvenate, resuscitate

Antonyms: deplete, diminish, reduce, exhaust, terminate