- resurrection (n.)
- late 13c., from Anglo-French resurrectiun, Old French resurrection, from Late Latin resurrectionem (nominative resurrectio) "a rising again from the dead," from past participle stem of Latin resurgere "rise again" (see resurgent). Replaced Old English æriste.
Originally the name of a Church festival commemorating Christ's rising from the dead; generalized sense of "revival" is from 1640s. Also used in Middle English of the rising again of the dead on the Last Day (c.1300). Resurrection pie (1869) was schoolboy slang for a pie made from leftovers of previous meals. Resurrectionist, euphemism for "grave-robber" is attested from 1776.