Resprout

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To grow again after cutting or damage, particularly referring to plants producing new shoots or leaves
2. Describing the process whereby vegetation re-emerges following adverse conditions, such as pruning or fire
3. Indicating the capacity of certain species to regenerate and thrive anew after being disturbed or removed

Etymology: "Resprout" is a plain compound: the prefix "re-", meaning "again," attached to "sprout," which goes back to Old English "sprūtan," to burst forth or shoot out. Put together, the verb describes a plant putting out new shoots after the first growth has been cut back or burned away, so the sense of coming back once more is built directly into its parts. The prefix has a longer road into English than the verb itself. Its ancestry runs back through Proto-Italic and Latin "re-", which passed through Old French "re-" and then entered Middle English as "re-". English speakers have used it freely ever since to form new verbs from existing ones, which is why the same pattern gives us words like "regrow" and "reappear" as well.

Synonyms: regrow, sprout again, revegetate

Antonyms: wither, die back