Renovation

How to spell renovation

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce renovation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does renovation mean?

1. nounThe act of repairing, modernising, or restoring a building or structure to good condition.

Renovation in a sentence

• The kitchen renovation took longer than the builders had estimated.

• They applied for a loan to fund the renovation of the old farmhouse.

Where does renovation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb renovare, meaning 'to make new again' or 'to restore', which was formed from the prefix re-, meaning 'again', and novus, the Latin word for 'new'. The same novus also gives English everyday relatives such as 'novel', 'novice', and 'innovate', all carrying that core idea of newness. From the verb came the Latin noun renovatio, describing the act of renewing, and this passed into Old French as renovacion before reaching English in the fifteenth century. Early uses were often spiritual or abstract, describing a renewal of the soul or of life, before the word settled into its modern, mostly practical sense of repairing and modernising a building. Remembering that the heart of the word is the Latin nov for 'new' helps fix the single n in the middle and the -ation ending.

How the word is built

• re- (again)
• nov (from Latin novus: new)
• -ation (noun-forming suffix)