Etymograph

English

redivivus

Redivivus comes from Latin redivīvus ‘restored to life’, from vīvus ‘alive, living’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- ‘to live’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷeyh₃-1‘to live’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷih₃wós1‘alive, living’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷīwos1‘alive, living’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīvus1‘alive, living’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEredivīvus2‘restored to life’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1912redivivus2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin redivivus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English redivivus
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […]: “"Professor Munchausen - how's that for an inset headline?…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷeyh₃-Wiktionary, Latin redivivus‘to live’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷih₃wósWiktionary, Latin redivivus‘alive, living’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷīwosWiktionary, Latin redivivus‘alive, living’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīvusWiktionary, Latin redivivus‘alive, living’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEredivīvusWiktionary, English redivivus‘restored to life’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1912redivivusWiktionary, English redivivus. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […]: “"Professor Munchausen - how's that for an inset headline?…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- ‘to live’

biology, kidney, vitamin, hygiene, viable, vitality, zodiac, revive, anaerobic, quicken, quicksilver, quickness, biogenesis, wyvern, 56 more

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós ‘alive, living’

quick, couch, vital, vivid, vivacious, convivial, vivacity, 32 more

through Latin vīvus ‘alive, living’

vive, 5 more

Today it means

adj Living again; brought back to life.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “redivivus”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin redivivus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- / redivivus

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