rebirth

From re- +‎ birth.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɹiˈbɜːθ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɹiˈbɝθ/

  • Audio (Mid-Atlantic US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)θ

rebirth (plural rebirths)

1. Reincarnation; new birth subsequent to one's first.
   • 1989, Saral Jhingran, Aspects of Hindu morality, page 35:

     A theistic version of the above doctrine of transmigratory existence is presented best in the Bhagavadgitā which compares the rebirth of the soul in another body to changing of clothes, […]

2. Revival, reinvigoration.
   • 2009, Richard Taruskin, Music in the Nineteenth Century:

     And it was the spread of modern nationalism in the aftermath of Napoleon's defeat that mainly accounted for the nineteenth-century rebirth of the “Handelian” oratorio in Germany, where it had never thrived before, […]

3. Spiritual renewal.
   • 2000, Joseph Stoutzenberger, Celebrating Sacraments, page 132:

     The rebirth of Baptism affirms that Christ the healer shares our life.

   • 2011, Chad T. Pierce, Spirits and the Proclamation of Christ, page 233:

     Rather, in 1 Pet 3:21, those who have experienced rebirth in Christ, presumably through baptism, are promised an eschatological reward.

• reborn
• reincarnation
• renaissance
• revival
• metempsychosis
• palingenesia

rebirth (third-person singular simple present rebirths, present participle rebirthing, simple past and past participle rebirthed)

1. (transitive) To cause to be born again, spiritually renewed, or revived.
   • 2011, John Trevillian, The A-Men Return, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leics.: Matador, →ISBN, page 196:

     D’Alessandro fashioned it upon a book he wrote, the lost stories he rebirthed and cherished.

2. (intransitive) To be born again, spiritually renewed, or revived.
   • 1991, Rhonda Levand, “[Celebrating Our Sexuality] Balancing Male and Female Energy”, in Sexual Evolution: How Your Birth and Rebirth Affect Your Sexuality & What to Do About It, Berkeley, Calif.: Celestial Arts, →ISBN, page 176:

     As I rebirthed and did the LRT, I began to love and accept myself as a woman.

   • 2001, John Sack, The Dragonhead: The True Story of the Godfather of Chinese Crime—His Rise and Fall, New York, N.Y.: Crown Publishers, →ISBN, page 371:

     “And how ’bout me?” / “Two life sentences, probably.” / “The one life,” says Johnny, laughing, “isn’t enough? They don’t satisfy one, they want two? Maybe when I rebirth again, I owe them another next life.”

   • 2008, Patricia Panahi, God Outside the Box: A Story of Breaking Free, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 87:

     I rebirthed to let go of any belief systems of lack and limitation that might be blocking my success.

   • 2013, Michael Larsen, “Part 1: Choice”, in The Corridor, →ISBN, page 97:

     “When I rebirth, you will eat of me. But not overmuch, I pray. The black spruce of Three Streams, echoing the sweet tongue of Betula Carla, be yet to forget. And forgive. Overmuch. Over so little. Over and over and over.”

• birther