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revive

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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WOTD – 25 October 2025

Etymology

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The verb is derived from Late Middle English reviven, revyven (“to recover from illness; to regain consciousness; to return to life after death; to happen again, recur; to be rejuvenated, renewed; (figurative) to bring back; (alchemy) of a metal: to be restored to its original form”),[1] from Anglo-Norman reviver, revivre (“to return to life after death; to rejuvenate, renew; to make (a law or legal document) valid again”), Middle French revivre, and Old French revivre (“to return to life after death; to rejuvenate, renew”) (modern French revivre), and directly from their etymon Latin revīvere, the present active infinitive of revīvō (“to live again”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + vīvō (“to be alive, survive; to live”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- (“to live”)).[2]

The noun is derived from the verb.[3]

Pronunciation

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Verb

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revive (third-person singular simple present revives, present participle reviving, simple past and past participle revived)

  1. (transitive)
    2. To cause (a person or animal) to recover from a faint; to cause (a person or animal) to return to a state of consciousness.
      Near-synonym: rescue
      Her grandmother said that if she lost consciousness, she would not want to be revived.
      The dying puppy was revived by a soft hand.
    4. To bring (a person or animal which is dead) back to life.
      Synonyms: reanimate, resurrect
      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 22, page 224:
        And in her cheekes the vermeill red did ſhevv / Like roſes in a bed of lilies ſhed, / The vvhich ambroſiall odours from them threvv, / And gazers ſence vvith double pleaſure fed, / Hable to heale the ſicke, and to reuiue the ded.
      • c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth, […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], signature G, verso:
        [T]he King is vveary / Of daintie and ſuch picking greeuances, / For he hath found, to end one doubt by death, / Reuiues tvvo greater in the heires of life: […]
      • 1655, Thomas Fuller, “The Tenth Century”, in The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, book II, page 129:
        I remember not in Scripture that God ever revived a brute Beaſt; partly, becauſe ſuch mean ſubjects are beneath the Majeſty of a Miracle; and partly, becauſe (as the Apoſtle ſaith) brute Beaſts are made to be taken & deſtroyed.
      • 1711 July 2 (Gregorian calendar), [Richard Steele], “THURSDAY, June 21, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 97; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 36:
        [T]hough a prince could not revive a dead man by taking the life of him who killed him, neither could he make reparation to the next that should die by the evil example; or answer to himself for the partiality in not pardoning the next as well as the former offender.
        The spelling has been modernized.
      • 1750 June 12 (date written; published 1751), T[homas] Gray, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”, in Designs by Mr. R[ichard] Bentley, for Six Poems by Mr. T. Gray, London: […] R[obert] Dodsley, […], published 1753, →OCLC, page 27:
        The gen'rous ſpark extinct revive, / Teach me to love and to forgive, / Exact me ovvn defects to ſcan, / VVhat others are, to feel, and knovv myſelf a Man.
      • 1776, Edward Gibbon, “The Progress of the Christian Religion, and the Sentiments, Manners, Numbers, and Condition, of the Primitive Christians”, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 471:
        By the ſame analogy it vvas inferred, that this long period of labour and contention, vvhich vvas novv almoſt elapſed, vvould be ſucceeded by a joyful Sabbath of a thouſand years; and that Chriſt, vvith the triumphant band of the ſaints and the elect vvho had eſcaped death, or vvho had been miraculouſly revived, vvould reign upon earth till the time appointed for the laſt and general reſurrection.
      • [1794], “Morning Service for the New Year”, in David Levi, transl., The Form of Prayers, for the New Year. According to the Custom of the German and Polish Jews. […], volume I, London: […] David Levi, […], →OCLC, page 52:
        Thou, O Lord! art mighty for ever: it is thou vvho reviveſt the dead, and art mighty to ſave.
      • 1818 (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “On a Faded Violet”, in [Mary] Shelley, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. […], volume III, London: Edward Moxon […], published 1839, →OCLC, stanzas 1 and 3, page 156:
        The colour from the flower is gone, / Which like thy sweet eyes smiled on me; / […] / I weep—my tears revive it not. / I sigh—it breathes no more on me; […]
      • 1851 April 9, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Governor Pyncheon”, in The House of the Seven Gables, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, page 293:
        Could the judge but quaff a glass, it might make enable him to shake off the unaccountable lethargy which […] has made him such a laggard at this momentous dinner. It would all but revive a dead man!
      • 1956, Rose Macaulay, chapter IV, in The Towers of Trebizond, London: Collins […], →OCLC, page 38:
        But what Father Chantry-Pigg wanted to see was the place where St. Paul preached so long that the young man Eutychus sank into sleep and fell down three storeys and was taken up for dead but revived by the apostle, […]
    5. (figurative)
      1. To cause (something) to recover from a state of decline, neglect, oblivion, or obscurity; to make (something) active or lively again; to reanimate, to revitalize.
        Synonyms: reestablish, refresh, reinvigorate, renew, revivify
        Hypernyms: fix up, improve, spruce up
        The Manx language has been revived after dying out, and is now taught in some schools on the Isle of Man.
        This new paint job should revive the surgery waiting room.
        • a. 1548 (date written), [Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey], “Description of the Fickle Affections, Panges, and Sleightes of Loue”, in Songes and Sonettes, London: […] Richard Tottel, published 10 August 1557 (Gregorian calendar), →OCLC, folio 4, recto:
          Reuiued with a glimſe of grace old ſorowes to let fal, / The hidden traines I know and ſecret ſnares of loue: […]
        • 1582, “The Firste Booke of Virgil His Æneis”, in Richard Stanyhurst, transl., The First Foure Bookes of Virgils Æneis, […], London: […] Henrie Bynneman […], published 1583, →OCLC, page 6:
          Wee muſt ruſh forward: our ſeat theare deſtinie pitcheth, / Theare muſt thee kingdoome with Troian fame be reuiued, […]
        • 1725, [Daniel Defoe], “Part II”, in A New Voyage Round the World, by a Course Never Sailed before. […], London: […] A[rthur] Bettesworth, […]; and W. Mears, […], →OCLC, page 157:
          [H]e ſpied the Turning vvhere they ſhould all have gone in, to have come to the Place vvhich they vvere at before: […] Our Men vvere reviv'd vvith this Diſcovery, and all agreed to march back; ſo, having loſt about Six Days in this falſe ſtep, they got into the right VVay, […]
        • 1731 (date written), Simon Wagstaff [pseudonym; Jonathan Swift], “An Introduction to the Following Treatise”, in A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation, […], London: […] B[enjamin] Motte […], published 1738, →OCLC, page lxii:
          [W]hen Converſation appears in danger to flag, vvhich, in ſome Places, I have artfully contrived, I took care to invent ſome ſudden Queſtion, or Turn of VVit, to revive it; […]
        • 1781, Edward Gibbon, “Persecution of Heresy—The Schism of the Donatists—The Arian Controversy—Athanasius—Distracted State of the Church and Empire under Constantine and His Sons—Toleration of Paganism”, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume II, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 247:
          After the edict of toleration had reſtored peace and leiſure to the Chriſtians, the Trinitarian controverſy vvas revived in the ancient ſeat of Platoniſm, the learned, the opulent, the tumultuous city of Alexandria; […]
        • 1794 May 8, Ann Radcliffe, chapter V, in The Mysteries of Udolpho, a Romance; […], volume I, Dublin: […] Hillary and Barlow, for Messrs. P. Wogan, W. Jones, and H. Colbert, →OCLC, page 77:
          St. Aubert vvas revived by reſt, and by the ſerene air of this ſummit; […]
        • 1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “A Practical Philosopher”, in Tales of a Traveller. […], 1st French edition, volume I, Paris: A[nthony] and W[illiam] Galignani, […], →OCLC, part II (Buckthorne and His Friends), pages 247–248:
          [I]f at any time a shade of sadness stole across his brow, it was but transient; like a summer cloud, which soon goes by, and freshens and revives the fields over which it passes.
        • 1827, [Benjamin Disraeli], chapter XV, in Vivian Grey, volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book V, page 315:
          "I think we might all retire to this valley," said Miss Fane, "and revive the old feudal times with great success. […]"
        • 1856, James Anthony Froude, “The Last Efforts of Diplomacy”, in History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth, volume II, London: John W[illiam] Parker and Son, […], →OCLC, page 176:
          During the first twenty years of Henry [VIII]'s reign the countess [Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury] seems to have acknowledged his attentions with loyal regard, and if she had not forgotten her birth and her childhood, she never connected herself with the attempts which during that time were made to revive the feuds of the houses.
        • 1901 March, Jack London, “The Law of Life”, in Children of the Frost, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published September 1902, →OCLC, page 44:
          Then it was the men became high-stomached, and revived ancient quarrels, and crossed the divides to the south to kill the Pellys, and to the west that they might sit by the dead fires of the Tananas.
        • 2012 June 19, Phil McNulty, “England 1 – 0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport‎[1], archived from the original on 9 October 2024:
          […] Marko Devic's shot clearly crossed the line before it was scrambled away by John Terry, only for the officials to remain unmoved. The incident immediately revived the debate about goal-line technology, with a final decision on whether it is introduced expected to be taken in Zurich on 5 July.
        • 2017 January 19, Peter Bradshaw, “T2 Trainspotting review – choose a sequel that doesn’t disappoint”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 October 2025:
          [Danny] Boyle revives some of the stylistic tics which found themselves being ripped off by geezer-gangster Britflicks back in the day, but now the freezeframes are briefer, sharper; the movie itself refers back to the original with variant flashback versions of famous scenes, but also Super 8-type images of the boys' poignant boyhood in primary school.
        • 2019 October, “Funding for 20tph East London Service”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 18:
          The 20tph service also requires additional stabling space on the east side with TfL [Transport for London] considering various options including reviving the former London Underground depot at New Cross and sites at West Croydon and Crystal Palace.
        • 2020 December 2, Industry Insider [pseudonym], “The Costs on Cutting Carbon”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 76:
          Significant rail projects have been mothballed before in the face of changed circumstances – in particular, the LNER Woodhead project which was postponed due to wartime conditions and not revived until 1948, as money became available after nationalisation.
      2. To cause (a feeling, state of mind, etc.) to come back or return; to reactivate, to reawaken.
      3. To renew (something) in one's or people's memories or minds; to bring back (something) to (public) attention; to reawaken.
        Synonyms: rekindle, resurrect
        The Harry Potter books and films revived the world’s interest in wizardry.
      4. To make (something which has become faded or unclear) clear or fresh again; to refresh.
        • 1836, “Boz” [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “Shabby-genteel People”, in Sketches by “Boz,” Illustrative of Every-day Life, and Every-day People. […], volume II, London: John Macrone, […], →OCLC, page 106:
          It was very odd; his clothes were a fine, deep, glossy, black, and yet they looked like the same suit; nay, there were the very darns, with which old acquaintance had made us familiar. […] The truth flashed suddenly upon us—they had been "revived." 'Tis a deceitful liquid that black and blue reviver; we have watched its effects on many a shabby-genteel man. […] [T]he transient dignity of the unhappy man decreased in exact proportion as the "reviver" wore off.
          Referring to clothes having been treated with a reviver (“a chemical compound for making something look new again”).
        • 1856 July 3 (date delivered), Eugene O’Curry, “Lecture VII. The Annals (Continued). 10. The Annals of the Four Masters. The ‘Contention of the Bards’. Of Michael O’Clery [Mícheál Ó Cléirigh]. Of the Chronology of the Four Masters.”, in Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of Ancient Irish History. […], Dublin: James Duffy, […], published 1861, →OCLC, page 150:
          […] I applied to the Council of the Academy, […] for liberty to apply a proper preparation to the part of the vellum which appeared blank before the name O'Donnell, and between it and the margin of the page. The academy complied with my request. I took the necessary means of reviving the ink, and in a little time I was rewarded by the plain and clear reappearance of what had not been before dreamt of. There, surely enough, were the name and the title of "Bonaventura O'Donnell", with the words added, "Jubilate Lector".
      5. (chemistry, historical) To restore (a metal (especially mercury) or other substance in a compound or mixture) to its pure or unmixed state.
        to revive a metal after calcination
        • 1649, Henry Atkins [et al.], “[Chymical Oyls.] Chymical Preparations More Usual. Mercurius Dulcis Precipitated.”, in Nich[olas] Culpeper, transl., A Physicall Directory or A Translation of the London Dispensatory Made by the Colledge of Physicians in London. […], London: […] Peter Cole […], →OCLC, page [301]:
          Take of crude Mercury diſtilled in a retort vvith Bay ſalt, or revived vvith common Cinnabarum, one part, Aqua fortis (of tvvo parts of Vitriol calcined and one part of ſalt Peter) tvvo parts, diſſolve them in a phial over vvarm aſhes, […]
      6. (law, chiefly historical) To give new validity to (a law or legal instrument); to reenact, to revalidate.
        • 1531, Thomas Elyot, “Of the Fifthe Braunche Called Circumspection⸝ Shewed in Reprinse”, in The Boke Named the Governour […], London: […] Tho[mas] Bertheleti, →OCLC, 1st boke, folios 90, recto – 90, verso:
          [Y]et by his moſte excellent witte⸝ he in a few yeres⸝ nat only broughte this realme in good ordre and vnder due obedience⸝ reuiued the lawes⸝ auanced Juſtice⸝ refurniſſhed his dominions⸝ and repayred his manours: […]
        • a. 1548 (date written), Edward Hall, Richard Grafton, “[The Prosperous Reigne of Kyng Edward the Fourth.] The .XIJ. Yere.”, in The Vnion of the Two Noble and Illustre Famelies of Lancastre & Yorke, […], London: […] Rychard Grafton, […] [and Steven Mierdman], published 1550, →OCLC, folio xxxvj, verso:
          [S]uche Lawes made by hym, as kyng Henry the ſixt, had cauſed to be abrogated and adnichilated, he again reuiued and renouated.
        • 1769, William Blackstone, “Of Offences against the Law of Nations”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book IV (Of Public Wrongs), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 70:
          [T]he ſtatute 2. Hen[ry] V continued in full force: but yet is conſidered as extinct by the ſtatute 14 Edw[ard] IV. c[hapter] 4. vvhich revives and confirms all ſtatutes and ordinances made before the acceſſion of the houſe of York againſt breakers of amities, truces, leagues, and ſafe-conducts, vvith an expreſs exception to the ſtatutes of 2 Hen. V.
      7. (originally theater, now also film, television) To put on a new production of (a musical, play, or other stage performance; also, a film or television programme).
        • 1637, Tho[mas] Heywood, “Sundry Fancies Writ upon Severall Occasions”, in Pleasant Dialogues and Dramma’s, Selected out of Lucian, Erasmus, Textor, Ovid, &c. […], London: […] R. O[ulton] for R. H[earne], and are to be sold by Thomas Slater […], →OCLC, page 248:
          A Prologue to the Play of Queene Elizabeth [I] as it vvas laſt revived at the Cock-pit, in vvhich the Author taxeth the moſt corrupted copy novv imprinted, vvhich vvas publiſhed vvithout his conſent.
          A section heading.
      8. (obsolete, rare)
        1. To bring (someone) back to a state of health or vigour.
          • 1580, Thomas Tusser, “Septembers Abstract”, in Fiue Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie: […], London: […] Henrie Denham [beeing the assigne of William Seres] […], →OCLC, stanzas 4–5, folio 14, recto:
            What helpes reuiue, / the thriuing, to thriue. / Plough fence and ſtore, / aught elſe before.
          • 1612–1626, Joseph Hall, “[Contemplations upon the Principal Passages in the Holy Story. Book IV.] The Bloody Issue Healed.”, in Josiah Pratt, editor, The Works of the Right Reverend Father in God, Joseph Hall, D.D. […], volume II (Contemplations), London: […] C[harles] Whittingham, […]; for Williams and Smith, […], published 1808, →OCLC, part II (Contemplations on the New Testament), page 343:
            Doubtless, thou [Jesus] hadst herein no small respect to the faith of Jairus, unto whose house thou wert going. That good man had but one only daughter, which lay sick in the beginning of his suit; ere the end, lay dead. […] To make this good, by the touch of the verge of thy garment thou revivedst one from the verge of death.
        2. (law, politics) To rerun (an election).
  2. (intransitive)
    1. To recover from a faint; to return to a state of consciousness.
    3. Of a dead person or animal: to be brought back to life.
      Synonym: reanimate
    4. Of a person, animal, or plant: to return to a state of health or vigour, especially after almost dying.
    5. (figurative)
      1. To recover from a state of decline, neglect, oblivion, or obscurity; to become active or lively again; to reanimate, to revitalize.
        Classical learning revived in the 15th century.
      2. Of a feeling, state of mind, etc.: to come back or return; to be reactivated or reawakened.
      3. (chemistry, obsolete, rare) Of a metal (especially mercury) or other substance in a compound or mixture: to return to its pure or unmixed state.
      4. (law, chiefly historical, uncommon) Of a law or legal instrument: to be given new validity.
      5. (originally theater, now also film, television) Of a musical, play, or other stage performance; also, a film or television programme: to have a new production put on.
        • 1709 April 23 (Gregorian calendar), Isaac Bickerstaff [et al., pseudonyms; Richard Steele], “Tuesday, April 12, 1709”, in The Tatler, number 1; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, […], London stereotype edition, volume I, London: I. Walker and Co.;  […], 1822, →OCLC, page 4:
          It is not now doubted but plays will revive, and take their usual place in the opinion of persons of wit and merit, notwithstanding their late apostacy[sic – meaning apostasy] in favour of dress and sound.
          The spelling has been modernized.

Conjugation

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Conjugation of revive
infinitive (to) revive
present tense past tense
1st-person singular revive revived
2nd-person singular revive, revivest† revived, revivedst†
3rd-person singular revives, reviveth† revived
plural revive
subjunctive revive revived
imperative revive —
participles reviving revived

† Archaic or obsolete.

Antonyms

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(multiple senses):

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun

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revive (plural revives)

  1. (obsolete) Synonym of revival (“an act of reviving, or a state of being revived (in various senses)”).

References

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  1. ^ “revīven, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “revive, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2025.
  3. ^ “revive, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2024.

Further reading

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Latin

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Verb

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revīve

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of revīvō

Spanish

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Verb

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revive

  1. inflection of revivir:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative
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