palingenesia

pa·lin·gen·e·sia
P3A1L1I1N1G2E1N1E1S1I1A1
UK/ˌpæ.lɪn.d͡ʒɪˈniːzɪ.ə/US/ˌpæ.lɪn.d͡ʒəˈni.ʒə/

noun

Rebirth; regeneration.

Scrabble 15

Meanings

nounpalingenesia (countable and uncountable, plural palingenesias)

plural palingenesias

  1. countableuncountableRebirth; regeneration.

    The palingenesia, then, of the individual issues in resurrection.

    2010, Merrill C. Tenney, The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, volume 3
    4 more examples

    All work is as seed sown; it grows and spreads, and sows itself anew, and so, in endless palingenesia, lives and works.

    1832, Thomas Carlyle, Boswell’s Life of Johnson, page 455

    The Greek word, palingenesia, is only twice used in the New Testament; namely, here and at Titus iii. 5., and it is in both places translated “regeneration,” a word used, I believe, in no other part of our version of the Scriptures.

    1855, Timothy Metcalf Shann, Biblico-Metaphrastic Annotations, page 27

    The palingenesia having its first and last cause, as palingenesia, in the Incarnation is strictly supercosmic, supernatural, though it presupposes the natural, and like the cosmos has God for its first and last cause.

    1861 July, “Gioberti’s Philosophy of Revelation”, in Brownson’s Review, volume II, number 3, page 310

    Within the soul, within the body social, there must be - if we are to experience long survival - a continuous "recurrence of birth" (palingenesia) to nullify the unremitting recurrences of death. For it is by means of our own victories, if we are not regenerated, that the work of Nemesis is wrought: doom breaks from the shell of our very virtue. Peace then is a snare; war is a snare; change is a snare; permanence a snare.

    1968, Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 2nd edition, London: Fontana Press, published 1993, page 16

    Synonyms: palingenesis

Synonyms & antonyms

nounRebirth; regeneration.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ǵenh₁-“to beget; to give birth; to produce”
  2. Proto-Indo-European*kʷel-“to turn (end-over-end); to revolve around; to dwell, sojourn”
  3. Ancient Greekπᾰ́λῐν“again, anew, once more”
  4. Koine Greekπαλιγγενεσία“rebirth”
  5. Late Latinpalingenesia“rebirth; regeneration”
  6. Englishpalingenesia

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).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

palingenesia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/palingenesia

MLA

“palingenesia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/palingenesia. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “palingenesia,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/palingenesia.

Source: palingenesia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.