What does "palingenesis" mean?
Rebirth; regeneration; (countable) an instance of this.
Palingenesis
/ˌpælɪnˈd͡ʒɛnɪsɪs/ noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Rebirth; regeneration; (countable) an instance of this.
- Grammar: palingenesis is listed as noun.
- Nearest alternatives: copy, duplication, imitation, new birth.
- Useful contrasts: cenogenesis.
- Usage evidence: The elegant and fashionable female of London, would start back with horror and consternation—with loathing and disgust—could palingeneses of her ancient ancestors be presented to her.
How to use "palingenesis"
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- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "palingenesis" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
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- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "palingenesis" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "palingenesis" is acting as noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
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3. Confirm with context
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Final meaning check
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When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Rebirth; regeneration; (countable) an instance of this. also, figuratively, uncountable
"The elegant and fashionable female of London, would start back with horror and consternation—with loathing and disgust—could palingeneses of her ancient ancestors be presented to her."
- 2 emergence during embryonic development of various characters or structures that appeared during the evolutionary history of the strain or species wordnet
- 3 Rebirth; regeneration; (countable) an instance of this.; The recurrence of historical events in the same order in an infinite series of cycles. also, countable, figuratively, uncountable
"Schelling set himself the fundamental task of establishing a channel of ascensional intelligibility from the origins of creation to man, and even beyond man, in which the doctrines of survival and palingenesis, so dear to the Gnostics, found all their significance. Thus, the evolution of nature was marked by ever-increasing value, and creation would never by completed."
- 4 Rebirth; regeneration; (countable) an instance of this.; Spiritual rebirth through the transmigration of the soul. also, countable, figuratively, historical, uncountable
"[I]t was averred that all germs, or ova, were originally created—each thing living at this hour, having proceeded from a germ which was included within the germ of its antecedent, back as far as the original creation; […] This evolution doctrine was opposed by the Pythagorean idea of a palingenesis, or metempsychosis, under which notion you are to suppose that the animating principle that has heretofore animated the bodies of the living, seeks a new union with organizable matter, upon the dissolution of its last tabernacle, and carries on the new evolution until again displaced, and set free to make new combinations."
- 5 The apparent repetition, during the development of a single embryo, of changes that occurred previously in the evolution of its species. historical, obsolete, uncountable
"[P]alingenesis is to be seen in the Ectoprocta, cœnogenesis in the Entoprocta."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 The regeneration of magma by the melting of metamorphic rocks. uncountable
"This process of regeneration of magma has been called palingenesis by [Jakob] Sederholm, who ascribes to it many of the Archæan granite and granodiorite masses of Fennoscandia."
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"The elegant and fashionable female of London, would start back with horror and consternation—with loathing and disgust—could palingeneses of her ancient ancestors be presented to her."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "palingenesis"?
Common synonyms include: copy, duplication, imitation, new birth, re creation, rebirth.
How do you use "palingenesis" in a sentence?
The elegant and fashionable female of London, would start back with horror and consternation—with loathing and disgust—could palingeneses of her ancient ancestors be presented to her.
How do you pronounce "palingenesis"?
Pronounced /ˌpælɪnˈd͡ʒɛnɪsɪs/.
Etymology
Probably a variant of palingenesia + -genesis (suffix meaning ‘origin; production’). Palingenesia is a learned borrowing from Late Latin palingenesia (“rebirth; regeneration”), from Koine Greek παλιγγενεσία (palingenesía, “rebirth”), from Ancient Greek πᾰ́λῐν (pắlĭn, “again, anew, once more”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- (“to turn (end-over-end); to revolve around; to dwell, sojourn”)) + γένεσις (génesis, “creation; manner of birth; origin, source”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget; to give birth; to produce”)) + -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā, suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). By surface analysis, palin- + genesis. Sense 2 (“apparent repetition, during the development of a single embryo, of changes that occurred previously in the evolution of its species”) is from German Palingenesis; while sense 3 (“regeneration of magma by the melting of metamorphic rocks”) is from Swedish palingenes. Both are derived from the Greek word: see above. The plural form is probably from palingenesis + Latin genesēs (a plural form of genesis).