relume

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *wre-

Latin re-der.

Old French re-bor.

Middle English re-

English re-

English (il)lume

English relume

From re- + (il)lume.

Verb

relume (third-person singular simple present relumes, present participle reluming, simple past and past participle relumed)

1. (transitive, now rare) To rekindle; to relight (literally or figuratively). [from 17th c.]
   • 1730, James Thomson, The Seasons, ‘Autumn’:

     Aratus, who a while relum'd the Soul / Of fondly lingering Liberty in Greece […] .

   • 1817 December, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Revolt of Islam. […]”, in [Mary] Shelley, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 222:

     Then I bethought me of the glorious doom / Of those who sternly struggle to relume / The lamp of Hope o’er man's bewildered lot; […]

   • 1826, [Mary Shelley], The Last Man. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:

     For a time, I thought that, by watching a complying moment, fostering the still warm ashes, I might relume in her the flame of love.

2. (transitive, now rare) To make clear or bright again. [from 18th c.]
   • 1788, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary: A Fiction‎^[1]:

     [H]e opened his eyes again; the spreading film retired, and love relumed them—he gave a look—it was never forgotten.

Related terms

• illuminate
• luminous

Translations

To rekindle; to light

• Russian: зажига́ть (ru) (zažigátʹ) сно́ва (ru) (snóva)

Anagrams

• em rule, lemure