Revenant

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɹɛvənənt/

Definitions

1. Something that returns from the dead or reappears after a long absence, especially a ghost or reanimated corpse
2. a supernatural being that has returned from death or a prolonged absence to haunt the living world
3. an undead creature or ghost that comes back to the physical realm after having died or disappeared for an extended time

Etymology: The noun "revenant" arrived in English in the 19th century from French, where it is the present participle of "revenir", meaning "to return." In French, a "revenant" was simply someone or something that comes back, and the sense of a ghost or reanimated corpse is one English speakers layered onto the word once it crossed the Channel. The participle form is what gives the word its sense of an ongoing action: the thing is still in the act of coming back. The word's family connects it to a surprisingly everyday neighbour. "Revenir" is built from the prefix "re-", meaning "back" or "again," and "venir," "to come," which descends from Latin "venire." The same Latin stem gives English "revenue," the money that keeps coming back to a state or business, so "revenant" and "revenue" are close relatives that took very different paths into English.

Synonyms: ghost, spirit, phantom

Antonyms: living