Resurgence

How to spell resurgence

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce resurgence

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does resurgence mean?

1. nounA renewed rise, growth, or popularity of something after a period of decline.

Resurgence in a sentence

• The high street saw a sudden resurgence of independent bookshops.

• Analysts pointed to a resurgence in demand for vinyl records.

Where does resurgence come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb resurgere, meaning 'to rise again' or 'to spring back up', built from the prefix re- 'again' and surgere 'to rise'. The same surgere root gives English the words 'surge', 'source', and 'insurgent', all carrying that core image of something rising or welling up. The noun 'resurgence' itself is a relatively late arrival, emerging in English in the early nineteenth century to name a fresh revival or renewed strength after a decline. It is closely tied to 'resurrection', which shares the resurgere family and the literal sense of rising once more. The spelling trap lives in the middle: the soft 'g' before 'e' produces a 'j' sound, and the ending is the Latin-style '-ence' rather than '-ance', a detail many adults second-guess.

How the word is built

• re- (again)
• surg (from surgere: to rise)
• -ence (noun-forming suffix)