Revel

How to spell revel

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce revel

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does revel mean?

1. verbTo take intense delight in something, or to celebrate in a lively, festive way.
2. nounA lively or boisterous celebration or festivity.

Revel in a sentence

• verb

  The team began to revel in their unexpected victory.

• noun

  The village holds an annual midsummer revel on the green.

• verb

  She would revel in a quiet weekend with no meetings at all.

• noun

  After months of hard work, the office threw a proper revel to mark the launch.

Where does revel come from?

Language of origin: French

Revel arrived in English in the early 1300s from the Old French verb reveler, which meant to make merry or to be riotous. That French word descends, somewhat surprisingly, from the Latin rebellare, literally to rise up again or to make uproar, built from re- (again) and bellare (to wage war). The same Latin source gives us the word 'rebel', so the noisy, unruly energy of a rebellion and the noisy, unruly fun of a party share one ancestor. Over time English softened the sense from rowdy disorder to enthusiastic enjoyment and celebration. The single l in the bare form is the spelling point to remember: it doubles only when a suffix is added (revelling, revelled), and even then only in British and Canadian usage.

How the word is built

• revel (from Old French reveler, ultimately Latin rebellare: to rise up, make uproar); no separable prefix or suffix in modern English