Repopularise

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Returning something to general favor or widespread appeal after it had fallen out of fashion
2. Bringing a former fashion, idea or pastime back into common popularity among people
3. Restoring the public approval and wide acceptance that something once enjoyed in earlier times

Etymology: Repopularise is a plain formation: the prefix "re-", meaning "again", attached to "popularise", so it simply means to make something popular once more. The base word has a longer road behind it. It comes from Latin "populus", "people", through "populāris", "of the people" or "common", which passed into Old French as "populaire" and then into Middle English as "populer". English later added the suffix "-ise", which descends from Ancient Greek verbs in "-izein" that were carried into Latin as "-izare" and reached English through Middle French. The prefix "re-" is the same Latin particle found in words like "repeat" and "return", and it entered English through Old French, which is why it appears so readily on verbs. Because the root sense is "again", the word needs no extra meaning of its own: whatever popularise means, repopularise means that it happened once before and is happening again.

Synonyms: revive, revitalise, reinvigorate, restore, resurrect

Antonyms: depopularise