revive

verb

1. (transitive)To cause (a person or animal) to recover from a faint; to cause (a person or animal) to return to a state of consciousness.

   “Near-synonym: rescue”

   “Her grandmother said that if she lost consciousness, she would not want to be revived.”

   “The dying puppy was revived by a soft hand.”

   “This VVater reviv'd his Father more than all the Rum or Spirits I had given him; for he vvas juſt fainting vvith Thirſt.”

   “[H]e […] realized that he had shot his friend and protector, Tarzan of the Apes. […] Soon the cool water revived him, and presently he opened his eyes to look in questioning surprise at D'Arnot.”

2. (transitive)To bring (a person or animal which is dead) back to life.

   “And in her cheekes the vermeill red did ſhevv / Like roſes in a bed of lilies ſhed, / The vvhich ambroſiall odours from them threvv, / And gazers ſence vvith double pleaſure fed, / Hable to heale the ſicke, and to reuiue the ded.”

   “[T]he King is vveary / Of daintie and ſuch picking greeuances, / For he hath found, to end one doubt by death, / Reuiues tvvo greater in the heires of life: […]”

   “I remember not in Scripture that God ever revived a brute Beaſt; partly, becauſe ſuch mean ſubjects are beneath the Majeſty of a Miracle; and partly, becauſe (as the Apoſtle ſaith) brute Beaſts are made to be taken & deſtroyed.”

   “[T]hough a prince could not revive a dead man by taking the life of him who killed him, neither could he make reparation to the next that should die by the evil example; or answer to himself for the partiality in not pardoning the next as well as the former offender.”

   “The gen'rous ſpark extinct revive, / Teach me to love and to forgive, / Exact me ovvn defects to ſcan, / VVhat others are, to feel, and knovv myſelf a Man.”

3. (figuratively, transitive)To cause (something) to recover from a state of decline, neglect, oblivion, or obscurity; to make (something) active or lively again; to reanimate, to revitalize.

   “The Manx language has been revived after dying out, and is now taught in some schools on the Isle of Man.”

   “This new paint job should revive the surgery waiting room.”

   “Reuiued with a glimſe of grace old ſorowes to let fal, / The hidden traines I know and ſecret ſnares of loue: […]”

   “Wee muſt ruſh forward: our ſeat theare deſtinie pitcheth, / Theare muſt thee kingdoome with Troian fame be reuiued, […]”

   “[H]e ſpied the Turning vvhere they ſhould all have gone in, to have come to the Place vvhich they vvere at before: […] Our Men vvere reviv'd vvith this Diſcovery, and all agreed to march back; ſo, having loſt about Six Days in this falſe ſtep, they got into the right VVay, […]”

4. (figuratively, transitive)To cause (a feeling, state of mind, etc.) to come back or return; to reactivate, to reawaken.

   “Partriche. Of all foules is moſte ſooneſt digeſted: and hath in hym moche nutriment, comforteth the brayne, and maketh ſede of generation,. and reuiueth luſte, whiche is abated.”

   “So did ſhe all, that might his conſtant hart / VVithdravv from thought of vvarlike enterprize, / And drovvne in diſſolute delights apart, / VVhere noiſe of armes, or vevv of martiall guize / Might not reuiue deſire of knightly exercize.”

   “Thus vvhen this Courtly Gentleman vvith toyle / Himſelfe hath vvearied, he doth recoyle / Vnto his reſt, and there vvith ſvveete delight / Of Muſicks skill reuiues his toyled ſpright, […]”

   “[T]he Lavv, inſtead of cleanſing the heart (by its vvorking) from ſin, doth revive [Romans 7:6], put ſtrength into [1 Corinthians 15:56], and increaſe it in the ſoul [Romans 5:20], even as it doth diſcover and forbid it, for it doth not give povver to ſubdue.”

   “VVhat firſt Æneas in this place beheld, / Reviv'd his Courage, and his Fear expel'd.”

5. (figuratively, transitive)To renew (something) in one's or people's memories or minds; to bring back (something) to (public) attention; to reawaken.

   “The Harry Potter books and films revived the world’s interest in wizardry.”

   “[T]he reſidue that was therto knytte and adioyned⸝ and late ſemed for the tyme ded or bireft from the mynde⸝ is reuiued and (as it were) retourned home agayne⸝ it is thã [than, i.e., then] had for redemed or reſtored⸝ and is properly called remembraunce.”

   “[S]ome Jade […] hath named me expreſſely in Print (as I will not do him) and accuſe me of want of learning, vpbraiding me for reuiuing in an epiſtle of mine the reuerent memory of Sir Thomas Moore, Sir Iohn Cheeke [John Cheke], Doctor Watſon, Doctor Haddon, Doctor Carre, Maiſter [Roger] Aſcham, as if they were no meate but for his Maiſterſhips mouth, or none but ſome ſuch as the ſon of a ropemaker were worthy to mention them.”

   “And heere I vvill make a requeſt, that […] I may reviue and reintegrate the miſapplyed and abuſed Name of Natvrall Magicke, vvhich in the true ſenſe, is but Natvrall VVisedome, or Natvrall Prvdence: […]”

   “The Citizens in ſtead of meeting him, ſend him a choking meſſage reviving the cruelty done Hemyr Hamze Mirzey his brother, […]”

6. (figuratively, transitive)To make (something which has become faded or unclear) clear or fresh again; to refresh.

   “It was very odd; his clothes were a fine, deep, glossy, black, and yet they looked like the same suit; nay, there were the very darns, with which old acquaintance had made us familiar. […] The truth flashed suddenly upon us—they had been "revived." 'Tis a deceitful liquid that black and blue reviver; we have watched its effects on many a shabby-genteel man. […] [T]he transient dignity of the unhappy man decreased in exact proportion as the "reviver" wore off.”

7. (figuratively, historical, transitive)To restore (a metal (especially mercury) or other substance in a compound or mixture) to its pure or unmixed state.

   “to revive a metal after calcination”

   “Take of crude Mercury diſtilled in a retort vvith Bay ſalt, or revived vvith common Cinnabarum, one part, Aqua fortis (of tvvo parts of Vitriol calcined and one part of ſalt Peter) tvvo parts, diſſolve them in a phial over vvarm aſhes, […]”

8. (figuratively, historical, transitive)To give new validity to (a law or legal instrument); to reenact, to revalidate.

   “[Y]et by his moſte excellent witte⸝ he in a few yeres⸝ nat only broughte this realme in good ordre and vnder due obedience⸝ reuiued the lawes⸝ auanced Juſtice⸝ refurniſſhed his dominions⸝ and repayred his manours: […]”

   “[S]uche Lawes made by hym, as kyng Henry the ſixt, had cauſed to be abrogated and adnichilated, he again reuiued and renouated.”

   “[T]he ſtatute 2. Hen[ry] V continued in full force: but yet is conſidered as extinct by the ſtatute 14 Edw[ard] IV. c[hapter] 4. vvhich revives and confirms all ſtatutes and ordinances made before the acceſſion of the houſe of York againſt breakers of amities, truces, leagues, and ſafe-conducts, vvith an expreſs exception to the ſtatutes of 2 Hen. V.”

9. (also, figuratively, transitive)To put on a new production of (a musical, play, or other stage performance; also, a film or television programme).

   “A Prologue to the Play of Queene Elizabeth [I] as it vvas laſt revived at the Cock-pit, in vvhich the Author taxeth the moſt corrupted copy novv imprinted, vvhich vvas publiſhed vvithout his conſent.”

10. (figuratively, obsolete, rare, transitive)To bring (someone) back to a state of health or vigour.

    “What helpes reuiue, / the thriuing, to thriue. / Plough fence and ſtore, / aught elſe before.”

    “Doubtless, thou [Jesus] hadst herein no small respect to the faith of Jairus, unto whose house thou wert going. That good man had but one only daughter, which lay sick in the beginning of his suit; ere the end, lay dead. […] To make this good, by the touch of the verge of thy garment thou revivedst one from the verge of death.”

11. (figuratively, obsolete, rare, transitive)To rerun (an election).
12. (intransitive)To recover from a faint; to return to a state of consciousness.

    “He is in ſuche a ſwounde [swoon] yͭ I wene he wyll neuer reuyue againe […]”

    “But God claue an hollow place that was in the iawe, and there came water thereout, ⁊ when he [Samson] had drunke, his ſpirit came againe, and he reuiued: […]”

    “The vvater Nymphs that in the bottome playd / Held up their pearled vvriſts and tooke her in, / […] / And through the porch, and inlet of each ſenſe / Dropt in ambroſial oyles till ſhe reviv'd, / And undervvent a quicke, immortall change / Made goddeſs of the river; […]”

    “[P]ious children joy vvith vaſt delight / VVhen a lov'd Sire revives before their ſight, […]”

    “[I]t is clear, that if, upon judgment to be hanged by the neck till he is dead, the criminal be not thoroughly killed, but revives, the ſheriff muſt hang him again.”

13. (intransitive)Of a dead person or animal: to be brought back to life.

    “For Chriſt therfore dyed and roſe agayne⸝ ãd [and] revived⸝ that he ſhuld be lorde both of deed and quicke.”

    “Perdye, then is it fitt for me (ſaid he) / That am, I vveene, moſt vvretched man aliue, / Burning in flames, yet no flames can I ſee, / And dying dayly, dayly yet reuiue: […]”

    “VVe mourne in black, vvhy mourne vve not in blood? / Henry is dead, and neuer ſhall reuiue: / Vpon a VVoodden Coffin vve attend; […]”

    “And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the ſoul of the child came into him againe, and he reuiued.”

    “She ſmil'd to ſee the doughty Hero ſlain, / But at her Smile, the Beau reviv'd again.”

14. (intransitive)Of a person, animal, or plant: to return to a state of health or vigour, especially after almost dying.

    “I Quycken I reuyue as a thyng dothe that fyrſt doth begyn to ſtyrre or yͭ was wyddered or almoſte deed and retourneth to lyfe againe⸝ […]”

    “They that dwell vnder his ſhadow ſhall returne: they ſhall reuiue as the corne, ⁊ grow as the vine, the ſent thereof ſhalbe as the wine of Lebanon.”

    “If chance the radiant Sun vvith farevvell ſvveet / Extend his ev'ning beam, the fields revive, / The birds thir notes renevv, and bleating herds / Atteſt thir joy, that hill and valley rings.”

    “Her recoveries were often as sudden as her decays, insomuch that she would revive in a moment out of a wasting distemper, into a habit of the highest health and vigour.”

    “After the slumber of the year / The woodland violets re-appear, / All things revive in field or grove, […]”

15. (figuratively, intransitive)To recover from a state of decline, neglect, oblivion, or obscurity; to become active or lively again; to reanimate, to revitalize.

    “Classical learning revived in the 15th century.”

    “He ſees her comming, and begins to glovv: / Euen as a dying coale reuiues vvith vvinde, […]”

    “[I]n the Age of Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael (vvho vvere the Protogenes and Apelles’s of the Modern Painters) vve ſhould ſee the Art revive again vvith ſo much vigour, and flouriſh in ſo ſhort a ſpace.”

    “But ſee! each Muſe, in Leo [Pope Leo X]'s Golden Days, / Starts from her Trance, and trims her vvither'd Bays! / […] / Then Sculpture and her Siſter-Arts revive; / Stones leap'd to Form, and Rocks began to live; […]”

    “Happy country, vvhere the paſtoral age begins to revive! VVhere the vvits even of Rome are united into a rural groupe of nymphs and ſvvains, under the appellation of modern Arcadians.”

16. (figuratively, intransitive)Of a feeling, state of mind, etc.: to come back or return; to be reactivated or reawakened.

    “[W]hẽ [when] he ſaw the lord de la vale his hert reuyued and thought there was ſome tretye in hande.”

    “I once lived without out lawe: butt when the commaundement cam⸝ ſynne revived⸝ ãd [and] I was deed.”

    “I Quycken or reuyue[,] I take hert, Ie deuieus vif, […]”

    “Now as ſoone as the people heard theſe words, their ſpirit reuiued.”

    “I revive / At this laſt ſight, aſſur'd that Man ſhall live / VVith all the Creatures, and thir ſeed preſerve.”

17. (figuratively, intransitive, obsolete, rare)Of a metal (especially mercury) or other substance in a compound or mixture: to return to its pure or unmixed state.
18. (figuratively, historical, intransitive, uncommon)Of a law or legal instrument: to be given new validity.
19. (also, figuratively, intransitive)Of a musical, play, or other stage performance; also, a film or television programme: to have a new production put on.

    “It is not now doubted but plays will revive, and take their usual place in the opinion of persons of wit and merit, notwithstanding their late apostacy^([sic – meaning apostasy]) in favour of dress and sound.”

noun

1. (obsolete)Synonym of revival (“an act of reviving, or a state of being revived (in various senses)”).

   “[F]irst called at Wotton's, the shoemaker's, who tells me the reason of [Henry] Harris's going from Sir W[illia]m Davenant's house, that he grew very proud and demanded £20 for himself extraordinary, more than [Thomas] Betterton, or any body else, upon every new play, and £10 upon every revive; […]”