rejuvenate

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 1, 2025 is:

rejuvenate • \rih-JOO-vuh-nayt\ • verb

To rejuvenate a person, parts of the body, etc., is to make them feel young, healthy, or energetic again. To rejuvenate something abstract, such as an economy or career, is to give it new strength or energy.

// The hotel package includes a day at the spa to rejuvenate guests.

// Small businesses opening along the main street have rejuvenated the downtown area.

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Examples:

"Made with shea butter and other hydrating ingredients, these hand creams rejuvenate the hands with each use." — Mia Meltzer, Rolling Stone, 28 Nov. 2024

Did you know?

The word rejuvenate is intended for mature audiences—that is, it applies to people and things that are no longer green to this world. While there is no true Fountain of Youth that can turn back the clock, rejuvenation can at least restore a bit of youthful appearance, health, or vigor. Rejuvenate originated as a combination of the prefix re-, which means "again," and the Latin juvenis, meaning "young." (It will come as no surprise that juvenis is also an ancestor of juvenile and junior). Its first-known use in the mid-18th century was in reference to "certain Potions" rejuvenating "the noble Parts" of those suffering prolonged ailments, but it didn't take long for the word to see life outside of medical contexts. Today one might rejuvenate an old car with a fresh coat of paint, a losing football team with a new quarterback, or depleted soil with some nitrogen-fixing legumes, to name just a few examples.