Revive

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈvaɪv/

Definitions

1. To bring back to life, consciousness, or strength after a period of weakness or inactivity
2. To restore to consciousness, vigor, or functional existence after decline or dormancy
3. To bring back into active use, popularity, or effectiveness from a state of disuse or decline

Etymology: Revive is a Latin compound at heart: "revīvere" joins "re-", meaning "again", to "vīvere", "to live". The Romans used it in the plain sense of coming back to life, and it passed into Old French as "revivre", a word that still means the same thing in modern French. English borrowed it through Anglo-Norman and Middle French, and by the Late Middle English period it was already doing a wide range of work: a sick person could revive, a fainting one could regain consciousness, and a dead man could return to life. The word also had a legal and scientific life that most speakers never see. Anglo-Norman lawyers used "reviver" to mean making a law or legal document valid again, and medieval alchemists spoke of a metal being restored to its original form. The same verb thus covered bodies, laws and metals alike, which shows how broadly it was once applied.

Synonyms: resuscitate, restore, revitalize, rejuvenate, rekindle

Antonyms: destroy, extinguish, diminish, weaken, deplete