What does resume mean?
Resume is a versatile English word with two principal meanings. As a noun, it refers to a résumé: a brief document listing a person’s education, employment history, skills, and qualifications for an employer or educational institution. As a verb, it means to begin again or continue after something has stopped, whether through an interruption, a break, or a temporary suspension. People say that a meeting, conversation, work, or journey will resume, or that someone will resume their career or studies. The noun is especially associated with job applications, although it can also refer to summaries submitted for courses and similar purposes. The two meanings share a history of literally taking something back up: from the Latin resumere, “take up again,” the word developed through French into both the document that summarizes a person’s background and the action of continuing interrupted activity.
A document summarizing a person’s education, employment history, skills, and qualifications, typically submitted when applying for a job or similar opportunity.
"Please attach your resume and cover letter to the application."
“Résumé” with the accent is a common formal alternative. The plural is “resumes.”
To begin again or continue an activity, process, or discussion after it has been interrupted.
"We will resume the discussion once all members have returned."
Common with meetings, conversations, work, studies, journeys, and proceedings.
The plural form is used for multiple documents summarizing people’s qualifications.
"The recruiter compared the resumes of several finalists."
A resume tells an employer where you have been; the verb reminds us that progress can resume after any interruption.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does resume come from?
The English word comes ultimately from Latin resumere, formed from re- meaning “again” and sumere, “take.” The verb was borrowed through Old French as resumer and originally meant “take up again” or “begin again.” Its noun meaning developed later from the idea of a brief account that takes up or summarizes a person’s previous experience, giving the modern sense of a résumé.
Related word forms
How resume is actually used
The noun is standard in American and British English. In formal applications, “résumé” is sometimes preferred for the document. The verb is commonly used for work, meetings, conversations, journeys, and legal proceedings; “resume” is generally less formal than “continue” when describing an ongoing activity.
Easily confused with resume
An unaccented resume can be a noun meaning a document summarizing someone’s qualifications or a verb meaning to continue after an interruption; résumé, with the accent, is specifically the noun for such a document.