Requicken

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /riːˈkwɪkən/

Definitions

1. To restore life or vigor to something that has become inactive or sluggish, or to make something lively again
2. To infuse renewed energy or vitality into something that has grown dull or inactive
3. To cause something that has become stagnant or weak to regain liveliness and movement

Etymology: "Requicken" is simply the prefix "re-" ("again") attached to "quicken," so its story is really the story of the older word. "Quicken" comes from the Old English "cwician," meaning "to come alive," and it is related to "quick" in its old sense of "living," as in the phrase "the quick and the dead." Over centuries "quicken" came to describe the first movement of an unborn child in the womb, and then, more broadly, any stirring of life or energy. Adding "re-" produces the sense of bringing that vitality back, reviving something that has gone dull or still. The word is a straightforward compound, so its interest lies mainly in the older meaning of "quick" that it preserves.

Synonyms: revive, reawaken, restore

Antonyms: weaken, diminish, fade