Resurrection

How to spell resurrection

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce resurrection

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does resurrection mean?

1. nounThe act of bringing something back to life, use, or prominence after it had ended or declined.
2. nounIn Christian belief, the rising of the dead to life, especially that of Christ.

Resurrection in a sentence

• The festival's resurrection after a decade brought tourists back to the town.

• The sermon focused on the meaning of the resurrection for the congregation.

• Critics credited the new manager with the resurrection of a failing club.

• Easter services celebrate the resurrection each spring.

Where does resurrection come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin resurrectio, a noun meaning 'a rising again', which was built on the verb resurgere, 'to rise up again'. That verb combines re- ('again') with surgere ('to rise'), and surgere itself is a contraction of sub ('up from under') and regere ('to lead or direct'), so the literal idea is of something being led upward once more. Its past participle, resurrectus, supplies the -rect- spelling that anchors the modern word and explains the otherwise puzzling double r. English took it up in the 1300s through Old French in an explicitly religious sense, describing the rising of Christ and the dead, before broadening to mean any revival or restoration. The very same surgere root still lives on in everyday relatives such as 'surge', 'insurgent' and 'resurgence', and noticing the -surrect- core is the surest way to remember the double r in the middle.

How the word is built

• re- (again)
• sur- (up, from Latin sub)
• rect (raised, from regere/surrectus)
• -ion (noun)