Recreation

How to spell recreation

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce recreation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does recreation mean?

1. nounActivity done for enjoyment or relaxation when one is not working.

Recreation in a sentence

• The town built a new centre for sport and recreation.

• Hiking is her favourite form of recreation at the weekend.

Where does recreation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word travels back to the Latin recreare, which literally meant 'to create again' or 'to restore', built from the prefix re- meaning 'again' and creare meaning 'to bring forth' or 'to produce'. In late Latin and medieval usage the idea of restoring took a particular turn toward refreshing the body and mind after work or illness, so recreatio came to mean a renewal of strength and spirits. English borrowed the word through Old French in the late 1300s, at first carrying that sense of mental or physical refreshment. Over time the meaning settled into the familiar one of leisure, play, and amusement, the activities people use to refresh themselves. The same creare root also gives us 'create' and 'creature', and remembering that recreation is really 're-creation', a recreating of one's energy, helps fix the spelling with its single c and the -ation ending.

How the word is built

• re- (again)
• creat (from creare: to create, make)
• -ion (noun of action)