revivify

English

Etymology

Partly from French revivifier and partly from Latin revīvificō,[1] corresponding to re- +‎ vivify.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ɹiːˈvɪvɪfʌɪ/

Verb

revivify (third-person singular simple present revivifies, present participle revivifying, simple past and past participle revivified)

  1. (transitive) To reanimate, bring back to life.
    Synonym: revive
    • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Knights and Squires”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 125:
      His pure tight skin was an excellent fit; and closely wrapped up in it, and embalmed with inner health and strength, like a revivified Egyptian, this Starbuck seemed prepared to endure for long ages to come, and to endure always, as now; []
    • 1994, M. Lindsey Kaplan, Katherine Eggert, ““Good queen, my lord, good queen” - Sexual Slander and the Trials of Female Authority in “The Winter's Tale””, in Renaissance Drama[1], volume 25, →DOI, page 111 of 89–118:
      In cautiously revivifying dead queens—and Time's appearance suggests that this recuperation is dependent on the hiatus—the play opens up a space, if an uncertain space, within which to begin a critique of current gender politics.
  2. (transitive) To reinvigorate or revitalize.
    Synonym: revive
    Coordinate term: reactivate
    Near-synonym: rejuvenate
    • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 256:
      Despite the patrician allure of much that Choiseul attempted, a renovating, technocratic spirit was abroad during his tenure of office which sought to rationalize and revivify government service [...].
  3. (chemistry, transitive, now rare) To reactivate (a catalyst, reagent etc.).
  4. (chemistry, intransitive, now rare) To become effective again as a reagent etc.
    Coordinate term: reactivate

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ revivify, v.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.