Repopularize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To bring something back into public favor or widespread use after it had fallen out of fashion
2. To restore the appeal and general acceptance that a thing, idea or person once enjoyed before declining
3. To make something well liked and familiar among people again after a period of neglect or obscurity

Etymology: Repopularize is simply "popularize" with the prefix "re-" attached, meaning to make something fashionable or well liked again. The sense of "popularize" itself grew out of "popular," which came into English from Latin "popularis," meaning belonging to the people, and that Latin word was built on "populus," the people. Some etymologists link "populus" to "poplar," the tree, through a shared root, but the connection to "the people" is the one that matters here, since "popularis" was used of what was common among citizens. The verb "popularize" was formed in English from "popular" with the suffix "-ize," which came through Late Latin and Middle French from Ancient Greek "-izein." That suffix turns a word into a verb meaning to make or cause something to be a certain way, so "popularize" means to make something popular. The prefix "re-" is the Latin word for "again" or "back," which is why "repopularize" means to restore the popularity that something once had. It is a straightforward compound, and it is a fairly modern formation in English.

Synonyms: revive, revitalize, restore

Antonyms: depopularize