Revival

How to spell revival

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce revival

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does revival mean?

1. nounA restoration of something to use, activity, popularity, or strength after a period of decline.

Revival in a sentence

• The town saw a remarkable revival of its tourist trade last summer.

• The theatre announced a revival of the classic musical for its spring season.

Where does revival come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Revival comes from the verb revive, which English took from the Old French reviver and ultimately from the Latin revivere, meaning 'to live again'. That verb was built from the prefix re-, meaning 'again' or 'back', and vivere, the everyday Latin word for 'to live'. The same vivere root gives us a whole family of familiar words, including 'vivid', 'survive', and 'vivacious', all carrying a sense of life and liveliness. The noun revival appeared in English in the early 1600s, first describing the act of bringing something back into use, vigour, or attention, and later attaching to religious meetings and to the staging of old plays. The spelling trap is the quiet -al ending and the single v in the middle, which is easy to double by mistake.

How the word is built

• re- (again)
• viv (live, from Latin vivere)
• -al (noun suffix)