What does revive mean?
Revive means to bring back to life, restore to activity, or renew something that has weakened, stopped, or become inactive. In a medical context, it often describes efforts to restore a person to consciousness or health: “The doctors tried to revive him.” More broadly, it applies to economies, businesses, traditions, hopes, interests, and discussions, as in “The campaign revived public attention to the issue” or “The festival helped revive local crafts.” The word can also suggest a strong or dramatic return of life and energy. Derived from the Latin revivere, meaning “to bring back to life,” it combines the prefix re-, indicating repetition or restoration, with vivere, “to live.” Its many figurative uses make it useful for describing anything that has been brought back into active, vigorous use.
verbTo bring someone or something back to life, activity, or a former state; to restore, renew, or stimulate.
- To bring someone back to life or restore them to consciousness.
- To recover from illness, weakness, or decline.
- To renew or stimulate interest, activity, hope, or economic activity.
- To restore an old practice, tradition, or object to active use.
"The new treatment helped revive the patient and renew her strength."
"Paramedics worked to revive the injured cyclist."
"The exhibition helped revive public interest in the region’s traditional crafts."
Revive comes from the Latin revivere, meaning “to bring back to life,” and can restore a person, an economy, an old tradition, or even a fading flame.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of revive
Revive comes from the Latin verb revivere, formed from re- (“again”) and vivere (“to live”), meaning “to bring back to life” or “to live again.” It entered English during the early 16th century in the sense of restoring life to a person. The same Latin root produced related English words such as vivid, vitality, vivify, and vivacious.
Related word forms
How revive is actually used
The word is common in both formal and informal English. It can describe literal restoration to life, but it is also widely used figuratively for recovering, renewing, or reactivating something that has weakened or disappeared.
Easily confused with revive
To revive means to restore life, activity, or interest, whereas to revere means to regard someone or something with deep respect.