Relive
verbTo experience something again, usually in memory or imagination.
How to spell relive
6 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce relive
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does relive mean?
- verbTo experience something again, usually in memory or imagination.
Relive in a sentence
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The old photographs let her relive that summer holiday in vivid detail.
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Veterans often relive the same difficult moments in their dreams.
Where does relive come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
This is a transparent compound built inside English from the prefix re-, meaning 'again' or 'back', and the verb 'live'. The root 'live' descends from the Old English libban and lifian, meaning 'to be alive' or 'to dwell', which goes back to a Germanic ancestor shared with the noun 'life'. The prefix re- was borrowed from Latin, where it carried the sense of repetition or return, and English speakers attached it freely to native verbs from the medieval period onward. 'Relive' itself is a relatively modern formation, appearing in the 1800s with the meaning 'to live through an experience a second time', usually in memory or imagination. A useful spelling note: it keeps a single, silent final 'e' from 'live', and the trap for adults is mixing it up with the unrelated 'relieve', which adds an extra 'ie' and means something completely different.
How the word is built
- re- (again)
- live (from Old English libban: to be alive, to dwell)
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