Reincarnation

How to spell reincarnation

13 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce reincarnation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does reincarnation mean?

1. nounThe belief that a soul is reborn in a new body after death, or a new embodiment of something or someone.

Reincarnation in a sentence

• The documentary explored cultures that believe in reincarnation after death.

• His grandmother spoke calmly about reincarnation as part of her faith.

Where does reincarnation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built from Latin roots that literally describe being made flesh again. The core element is caro, with the stem carn-, meaning 'flesh' or 'meat', the same root that gives us 'carnivore' (flesh-eater) and 'carnal' (relating to the body). To this was added the prefix in-, meaning 'into', producing the late Latin incarnatio, 'a being made into flesh', a term Christian writers used for the soul taking on a body. The further prefix re-, meaning 'again', yields the sense of the soul taking flesh once more in a new body. English assembled and adopted reincarnation in the nineteenth century as Eastern religious ideas of rebirth became widely discussed in the West. The spelling trap lies in the quiet middle: writers often want to double a consonant or forget the silent flow of 're-in-carn', so it helps to picture the flesh root carn sitting plainly between the two prefixes.

How the word is built

• re- (again)
• in- (into)
• carn (flesh, from Latin caro/carnis)
• -ation (noun-forming suffix)