Renew

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ɹɪˈnjuː/
• Rhymes: -uː

Origin

From - + new, after Latin renovare.

Full definition of renew

Verb

1. (transitive) To make (something) new again; to restore to freshness or original condition. from 14th c.
• c.1596-98, William Shakespeare, , Act 5, Scene i,In such a night
  Medea gather’d the enchanted herbs
  That did renew old AEson.
2. (transitive) To replace (something which has broken etc.); to replenish (something which has been exhausted), to keep up a required supply of. from 14th c.
3. (theology) To make new spiritually; to regenerate. from 14th c.
• 1526, William Tyndale, , Romans 12:2,And fassion not youre selves lyke vnto this worlde: But be ye chaunged in youre shape by the renuynge of youre wittes that ye maye fele what thynge that good yt acceptable and perfaycte will of god is.
4. (now rare, intransitive) To become new, or as new; to revive. 15th-18th c.
• 1621, Robert Burton (scholar), The Anatomy of Melancholyhttp://books.google.com.au/books?id=-IRMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA444&dq=%22to+such+as+are+in+fear+they+strike+a+great+impression%22&hl=en&ei=MtYvTb6_KYKwvgPo_ZmtCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22to%20such%20as%20are%20in%20fear%20they%20strike%20a%20great%20impression%22&f=false, II.2.6.ii,... to such as are in fear they strike a great impression, renew many times, and recal such chimeras and terrible fictions into their minds.
• 1997, July, Seeking Christian interiority: An interview with Louis Dupre, But Christianity was a new religious force in Augustine's day. Today, as you say, its power to integrate culture has all but disappeared. Does Christianity still have the capacity to renew ?
• 2010 September, Michael Allen, "St. Louis Preservation Fund", St. Louis Magazine, ISSN 1090-5723, volume 16, issue 9, page 74,Renewing neighborhoods dealing with vacant buildings badly need options other than demolition or dangerous vacant spaces.
5. (transitive) To begin again; to recommence. from 16th c.
• 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.8:Then gan he all this storie to renew,
  And tell the course of his captivitie ….
• 1660, John Dryden, translating Virgil, (apparently from Eclogue 4), a snippet of translation used to introduce Dryden's Astræa Redux: A poem on the happy restoration and return of His Sacred Majesty Charles II., 1660,The last great age, foretold by sacred rhymes,
  Renews its finished course ; Saturnian times
  Roll round again.
6. (rare) To repeat. from 17th c.
• 1674, John Milton, :The birds their notes renew, and bleating herds
  Attest their joy, that hill and valley rings.
7. (transitive, intransitive) To extend a period of loan, especially a library book that is due to be returned.I'd like to renew these three books.Did you know that you can renew online?

Synonyms

Related terms

• renewal

Anagrams

• newer