You might be forgiven for thinking it’s any or all of the above, given everything that Leo has to contend with in the grim new Alejandro Iñárritu movie that depicts his uncomfortable journey: he sort of does all those things in the course of the 2 1/2-hour epic — with gritted teeth and some seriously heavy breathing that made my lungs feel lucky to be mine and not his. is first recorded 1610s; sense of "one who secretly does work for another" is from 1884. How to pronounce “Magdalene” in Britain, and why, That prat skived off to scoff his spotted dick, the jammy b…. revenant (n.) "one who returns," especially after a long absence; "a ghost," 1814 (in "Rosanne" by Laetitia Matilda Hawkins), from French revenant (fem. In Christian writing in Old English it is used to render Latin spiritus (see spirit (n.)), a sense preserved in Holy Ghost. See Special:Whatlinkshere/Etymology:Revenant for a list of articles using this term. You say soda, I say pop; you say soda water, I say club soda; what the fizz? Usage. Sense of "disembodied spirit of a dead person," especially imagined as wandering among the living or haunting them, is attested from late 14c. Your email address will not be published. This page was last edited on 24 October 2020, at 04:11. b) someone coming back after a long absence? Latin manes probably is a euphemism. See it, and the true meaning of revenant might just reveal itself to you. in Caxton, influenced by Flemish and Middle Dutch gheest, but was rare in English before mid-16c. Supposedly is the operative word here, lending a further sense of ambiguity to an already slightly mystical concept: does revenant mean someone returning from the dead literally or figuratively? Word Origin for revenant C19: from French: ghost, from revenir to come back, from Latin revenīre , from re- + venīre to come Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William … Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. *** Merriam-Webster defines the word revenant as “one that returns after death or a long absence.” Dating from the early 19th century, it comes from the French verb revenir (to return), using its present participle as a noun meaning literally ‘coming back’. Old English gast "breath; good or bad spirit, angel, demon; person, man, human being," in Biblical use "soul, spirit, life," from Proto-West Germanic *gaistaz (source also of Old Saxon gest, Old Frisian jest, Middle Dutch gheest, Dutch geest, German Geist "spirit, ghost"). Whatever definition you choose to ascribe to it, depending on your beliefs and inclinations, it seems an especially good choice for the title of the movie in question. Most of us know by now that Leonardo DiCaprio does a very good job of being one (he’s already won a Golden Globe and might well take home an Oscar for it), but how many people still aren’t quite sure — or haven’t yet got around to Googling it — what exactly revenant means? Revenant definition is - one that returns after death or a long absence. Compare revenue. revenir, "to return") and means "one who returns". revenante), noun use of present participle of revenir "to return" (see revenue). revenant (comparative more revenant, superlative most revenant), revenant m (plural revenants, feminine revenante), Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Trésor de la langue française informatisé, https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=revenant&oldid=60927822, English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *gʷem-, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, A person who returns after a long absence. Required fields are marked *. The word "revenant" is French (Fr. 19th century. The first five letters of revenant are shared with the name of that thing that’s best served cold, and Leo’s pretty set on that action (and pretty cold too) by the end of his adventure. and returns the word toward its likely prehistoric sense. revenante), noun use of present participle of revenir "to return" (see revenue). revenant "one who returns," especially after a long absence; "a ghost," 1814 (in "Rosanne" by Laetitia Matilda Hawkins), from French revenant (fem. Many have a base sense of "appearance" (such as Greek phantasma; French spectre; Polish widmo, from Old Church Slavonic videti "to see;" Old English scin, Old High German giskin, originally "appearance, apparition," related to Old English scinan, Old High German skinan "to shine"). Your email address will not be published. Sense of "slight suggestion, mere shadow or semblance" (in ghost image, ghost of a chance, etc.) revenant (plural revenants) Someone who returns from a long absence. This is conjectured to be from a PIE root *gheis-, used in forming words involving the notions of excitement, amazement, or fear (source also of Sanskrit hedah "wrath;" Avestan zaesha- "horrible, frightful;" Gothic usgaisjan, Old English gæstan "to frighten"). B and c might both work too, but I’ll let the dictionaries provide the ultimate spoiler …. *gwā-, also *gwem-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to go, come.". In folklore, a revenant is an animated corpse that is believed to have revived from death to haunt the living. Ghost in the machine was British philosopher Gilbert Ryle's term (1949) for "the mind viewed as separate from the body." Let’s do a quick pop quiz: do you think it means a) someone waking up from a dream? Breton bugelnoz is literally "night-child." Mild spoilers ahead: proceed with caution if you haven’t seen the movie and you’ve been living under a rock (or a bear) over the last few weeks …. See it, and the true meaning of revenant might just reveal itself to you. Most Indo-European words for "soul, spirit" also double with reference to supernatural spirits. Even Microsoft Word puts a squiggly red line under it, not quite recognizing the noun as part of our standard English usage. Pronunciation (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA : /ˈɹɛvənənt/ Noun . From French revenant, the present participle of revenir (“ to return ”). Or maybe it’s definition a: the first four letters — reve — are French for a dream, and Leo certainly wakes up from lots of those while he’s taking the occasional kip between injuries. n revenant In mathematics, a form which continually returns as leading coefficient of irreducible covariants. From French revenant, the present participle of revenir (“to return”). Could it be definition d? Ghost-word "apparent word or false form in a manuscript due to a blunder" is from 1886 (Skeat). Ghost town is from 1908. To give up the ghost "die" was in Old English. It forms all or part of: acrobat; adiabatic; advent; adventitious; adventure; amphisbaena; anabasis; avenue; base (n.) "bottom of anything;" basis; become; circumvent; come; contravene; convene; convenient; convent; conventicle; convention; coven; covenant; diabetes; ecbatic; event; eventual; hyperbaton; hypnobate; intervene; intervenient; intervention; invent; invention; inventory; juggernaut; katabatic; misadventure; parvenu; prevenient; prevent; provenance; provenience; revenant; revenue; souvenir; subvention; supervene; venire; venue; welcome. 19th century. The Oxford English Dictionary is a little more nuanced with its definition, offering “a person who has returned, especially supposedly from the dead; a ghost”. The word revenant is derived from the Old French word, revenant, the "returning" (see also the related French verb revenir, meaning "to come back"). Or simply after a long time away? It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit gamati "he goes," Avestan jamaiti "goes," Tocharian kakmu "come," Lithuanian gemu, gimti "to be born," Greek bainein "to go, walk, step," Latin venire "to come," Old English cuman "come, approach," German kommen, Gothic qiman. (It also became an adjective, with the same meaning, in the early 20th century.) Compare revenue. What is a revenant? Ghost is the English representative of the usual West Germanic word for "supernatural being." n revenant One who returns; especially, one who returns after a long period of absence or after death; a ghost; a specter; specifically, in mod. Revenants are animated corpses or ghosts in Western folklore that are said to return from the dead to terrorize the living. Ghost story is by 1811. This entry was posted in Etymology , Words, phrases & expressions and tagged revenant meaning , revenant origin on January 15, 2016 by Louise . Geddon and pocalypse: anatomy of a verbal disaster, Pandemic poetry 5: A rhyme and a slogan from the Spanish flu. c) someone returning from the dead?, or d) someone seeking revenge? spiritualism, an apparition; a materialization. The gh- spelling appeared early 15c. Other concepts are in French revenant, literally "returning" (from the other world), Old Norse aptr-ganga, literally "back-comer." The American Indian ghost dance is from 1890. Etymology .