Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun One that returns after a lengthy absence.
- noun One who returns after death.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One who returns; especially, one who returns after a long period of absence or after death; a ghost; a specter; specifically, in mod. spiritualism, an apparition; a materialization.
- noun In mathematics, a form which continually returns as leading coefficient of irreducible covariants.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Someone who
returns from a longabsence . - noun A person or thing reborn.
- noun A
supernatural being that returns from the dead; azombie orghost . - adjective Used as an adjective.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective coming back
- adjective of or relating to or typical of a revenant
- noun someone who has returned from the dead
- noun a person who returns after a lengthy absence
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word revenant.
Examples
-
But spacers, being spacers, would prefer for their saviour to be a revenant from the past rather than a modern-day phenomenon.
365 tomorrows » 2006 » August : A New Free Flash Fiction SciFi Story Every Day 2006
-
Loved the use of the word revenant, haven't seen it used so perfectly before.
pretty dumb things 2010
-
If being a vampire was a world of cold punctuated by brief moments of warmth at feeding time, being a revenant was a world of ice with no relief.
Crossed J.F. Lewis 2011
-
If being a vampire was a world of cold punctuated by brief moments of warmth at feeding time, being a revenant was a world of ice with no relief.
Crossed J.F. Lewis 2011
-
Few aspects of modern life go untouched: labor laws are in effect to prevent slave labor abuse of the undead, for whom the official, politically correct term is a "revenant".
-
Few aspects of modern life go untouched: labor laws are in effect to prevent slave labor abuse of the undead, for whom the official, politically correct term is a "revenant".
Archive 2008-03-01 2008
-
But in "Exit Ghost," Zuckerman feels like a "revenant" while walking the streets of present-day Manhattan, and he's not the only shade around.
-
One seems to see him, a languid-limbed "revenant," with heavy-lidded drowsy eyes and voluptuous lips, emerging all swathed and wrapped in costly cerements out of the tomb of some Babylonian king.
Suspended Judgments Essays on Books and Sensations John Cowper Powys 1917
-
It may not be too great a flight of imagination to conceive our noble 'revenant' not forgetful of the great troubles of his own day, and anxious to know how often London had been burned down since his time, and how often the plague had carried off its thousands.
Lectures and Essays Thomas Henry Huxley 1860
-
Since the downfall of the Empire he has lived a sort of Bohemian existence in Paris, where his striking resemblance to Louis Napoleon has won for him the nickname of "the ghost" (le revenant).
uselessness commented on the word revenant
A sadly underrated word. I love this word.
May 3, 2007
whichbe commented on the word revenant
A visible ghost or animated corpse that was believed to return from the grave to terrorize the living. (Wikipedia)
May 22, 2008
hildjj commented on the word revenant
Also: "someone who returns from a long absence". How would you contrast this with "prodigal"?
February 24, 2009
bilby commented on the word revenant
With their revenant banks now underwritten by the government, the executives took a luxury holiday in Prodigal.
February 24, 2009
reesetee commented on the word revenant
Oh, look! WeirdNet added its all-time favorite definition here: "(n): a human being."
February 24, 2009
chained_bear commented on the word revenant
Yeah, someone should tag those. It would be great to have a list of all the words WeirdNet defines as "a human being."
February 24, 2009
reesetee commented on the word revenant
Good idea. I've been tagging words as "weirdnet" but that's not specific enough.
February 24, 2009
bilby commented on the word revenant
Question mark in tag is borky bork bork, yanno.
February 24, 2009
reesetee commented on the word revenant
Yup. I fixed it.
February 24, 2009
Jubjub commented on the word revenant
Dawn-sniffing revenant,
Plodder through midnight rain,
Question me again.
from "Casualty" by Seamus Heaney
June 11, 2010
Prolagus commented on the word revenant
(Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, IL, by Sufjan Stevens)
June 11, 2010
ruzuzu commented on the word revenant
Thank you, Prolagus! That's exactly what I was thinking.
*wanders over to Casimir Pulaski Day*
June 11, 2010