▪ I. regenerate, ppl. a. and n.
(rɪˈdʒɛnərət)
[ad. L. regenerāt-us, pa. pple. of regenerāre: see next.]
A. ppl. a.
† 1. Re-born; brought again into existence; formed anew. Obs.
| 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. v. viii. in Ashm. (1652) 150 Guydo..seyth by rottyng dyeth the compound corporall, And then..Uprysyth agayne Regenerat, Sympill, and Spyrytuall. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, i. iii. 70 The earthy author of my blood, Whose youthfull spirit in me regenerate, Doth with a two-fold rigor lift mee vp. 1593 G. Harvey Pierce's Super. 58 A canker..neuer perfectly healeth, vnlesse the rootes and all be vtterly extirped; and the fleshe regenerate. 1610 Healey St. Aug. Citie of God 794 For our flesh shalbe regenerate by incorruption, as our soule is by faith. |
2. In religious use: Spiritually re-born.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 221 b, Excepte a man be regenerate & borne agayne of water & the holy goost. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. ii. 84 Which excuse belongeth only to the regenerate, which do with the chief part of their soule tend vnto good. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. xxv. §20 By the Holy Ghost are the elect regenerate in spirit. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 5 Grace..had remov'd The stonie from thir hearts, and made new flesh Regenerate grow instead. 1746 Hervey Medit. (1818) 93 An innumerable race of regenerate children. 1875 Manning Mission H. Ghost ii. 35 We are born again, we are regenerate, we are sons of God. 1883 J. W. Reynolds Supernat. in Nature 24 The remarkable betterment which is wrought in those who are called ‘regenerate’. |
b. Restored to a better state, reformed.
| 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. viii. (1739) 16 It had been a wonder if Episcopacy..should by transplanting become regenerate into their original condition of meekness and humility. 1860 Froude Hist. Eng. V. 459 Organs still pealed through the aisles in notes unsuited to a regenerate worship. |
c. Of nations: Restored or raised again from a sunk or base condition.
| 1811 Scott Don Roderick iii. xiv, O who shall grudge him Albuera's bays, Who brought a race regenerate to the field. 1865 Freeman Hist. Ess. Ser. i. (1871) vi. 130 The righteous and generous sympathy which we all feel towards regenerate Italy. |
† 3. Degenerate, renegade. Obs. rare.
| 1596 Edward III, i. i, Regenerate traitor, viper to the place Where thou wast foster'd. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 360 So forth went this regenerate English Moor, more like a mad man then an advised champion, to kill this lion. |
4. Biol. Formed or modified by regeneration.
| 1952 Q. Rev. Biol. XXVII. 169/2 Intimacy of morphological relation between the regenerate and the adult tissue has demanded that study of the process of regeneration be made against the background of the anatomy and physiology of adult tissues. |
B. n.
† 1. A regenerate person. Obs.
| a 1569 A. Kingsmill Comf. Afflict. (1585) C vij, The blessed posteritie of the blessed Abraham, and true regenerates of God by our Saviour Christ. 1652 Bp. Hall Invis. World iii. §5 Casting undue fears into the tender hearts of weak regenerates. |
2. Biol. A limb or other part formed by regeneration.
| 1952 Q. Rev. Biol. XXVII. 169/2 The histology of the regenerate emphasizes the continuity and interrelation between adult and regenerating tissue. Ibid., The regenerate..is nourished by the adult blood stream. 1960 [see dedifferentiation]. 1964 [see melanogenesis s.v. melano-]. 1977 Sci. Amer. July 69/3 A graft between a proximal level of a host cockroach leg and a distal level of a donor leg gives rise to a normally oriented intercalary regenerate and forms a normal leg segment. |
▪ II. regenerate, v.
(rɪˈdʒɛnəreɪt)
[ad. ppl. stem of L. regenerāre: see re- and generate v., and cf. F. régénérer (11th c.).]
1. a. trans. In religious use: To cause to be born again in a spiritual sense; to invest with a new and higher spiritual nature. Also refl.
| a 1557 M. Basset tr. More's Treat. Passion M.'s Wks. 1378/2 These I meane whom he hath by his wholesome sacramentes & faith regenerated & renewed. 1587 Golding De Mornay xxxi. (1617) 503 But yet hath he circumcised our hearts by regenerating vs. 1679 Penn Addr. Prot. ii. 112 The Family of the Faithful, regenerated and redeemed from the Earth. 1740 Waterland Regeneration Wks. 1823 VI. 352 No man regenerates himself at all. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. lviii. VI. 267 She was regenerated and crowned in St. Sophia, under the more orthodox appellation of Anne. 1850 Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. iv. (1872) 48 Man need not be regenerated in order to possess the power of reasoning. 1885 Finlayson Biol. Relig. 86 Perhaps he thinks that infants dying in infancy are regenerated in the article of death. |
b. To reform completely; to effect a thorough moral change in (a person or state of things, etc.).
| 1849 Alison Hist. Europe III. xiv. §45. 179 Your brothers..desire to be regenerated, and to become men. 1863 W. Phillips Speeches iii. 54 The church has to be regenerated. 1891 Spectator 23 May, Where the West rules Mussulmans, it ‘regenerates’ their social system. |
c. To convert into something better. rare.
| 1850 W. Collins Antonina iv, Pagan images regenerated into portraits of saints. |
2. Path. and Biol. To reproduce, form afresh (some part of the body). Chiefly in pass.
| 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 33/2 Round aboute the vlceration is regenerated a tender and viscouse flesh. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 127 That the limbs of Hyppolitus were set together, not regenerated by æsculapius, is the utmost assertion of Poetry. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. iii. 167 Which regenerates and repairs Veins consumed or cut off. 1784 M. Baillie Wks. (1825) I. 193, I found many old scars where the Rete Mucosum was regenerated. 1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflam. 471 The dark-coloured fungous mass..on being removed is quickly regenerated. 1895 Arch. für Entwicklungsmech. der Organismen II. 122 The power of an adult animal to regenerate lost parts. 1897 Trans. Amer. Pediatric Soc. IX. 89 The exsected rib had been regenerated. 1909 R. H. Lock Rec. Progress Study of Variation iii. 61 The power of regenerating a lost part must clearly often be of service to the creatures which possess it. 1959 [see regeneration 3]. 1961 Lenhoff & Loomis Biol. Hydra 409 Hydra treated with 10-5M lipoic acid for short periods immediately after removal of their hypostomes and tentacles completely lose the capacity to regenerate those structures. 1970 Ambrose & Easty Cell Biol. i. 21 The capacity to regenerate certain tissues, possessed by most embryonic animals, is still present in some mature animals and plants. |
3. a. To reproduce, re-create; to form or bring into existence again.
| 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 728 Out of the ashes of a Toad burnt, not only one, but many Toads have been regenerated the year following. 1712 Blackmore Creation ii. (ed. 2) 65 [The sun] Through all the Soil a genial Ferment spreads, Regenerates the Plants. 1731 Arbuthnot Aliments iv. ii. §39 (1735) 109 The Salts, of which the Acid was compos'd, will be regenerated. 1816 J. Scott Vis. Paris (ed. 5) 284 The soil in which nitre is produced or regenerated. 1962 Which? Oct. 294/1 After a time, the resin [in a water softener] has no sodium left, and has to be ‘regenerated’ by adding sodium chloride. |
b. With immaterial object.
| 1612 Davies Why Ireland, etc. (1787) 156 Yet could not the King's grace regenerate obedience in that degenerate house. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. 29 In both cases they regenerated the deficient part of the old constitution through the parts which were not impaired. 1837 H. Martineau Soc. Amer. III. 185 The great point to be gained with the criminal is to regenerate self-respect. 1869 R. T. Claridge Cold Water-cure 77 Mankind may still turn back, and regenerate health. |
c. Chem. and Textiles. To re-precipitate (a natural polymeric substance, as cellulose, proteins) following chemical processing, esp. in the form of fibres; to make (fibres) in this way. Cf. regenerated ppl. a. 2.
| 1925 U.S. Patent 1,528,219, I..have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Process of Regenerating Cellulose from Viscose. 1948 J. T. Marsh Textile Sci. i. 8 It has not been possible to regenerate fibres from wool, but successful attempts have been made with silk. 1950 R. W. Moncrieff Artificial Fibres 90 Some of the sodium cellulose xanthate decomposes, regenerating cellulose which is maintained in emulsion form by that part of the sodium cellulose xanthate which is still undecomposed. 1955 Cockett & Hilton Basic Chem. of Textile Preparation iv. 82 Attempts have been made to regenerate both silk and wool in which the protein raw material is in a linear or near linear form. 1972 M. A. Taylor Technol. of Textile Properties 30 Azlon is the generic term given..to fibres regenerated from natural protein, such as casein from milk. 1973 Materials & Technol. VI. iv. 277 The extruded filaments were injected into a bath of dilute sulphuric acid to re-precipitate, or ‘regenerate’, the original cellulose and form textile threads. |
4. To reconstitute on a higher plane; to place on a new basis. Also refl.
| 1789 Coxe Trav. Switz. (1801) I. Introd. 39 To regenerate Switzerland is not to disturb it. 1791 Paine Rights of Man (ed. 4) 58 The country has never yet regenerated itself and is therefore without a constitution. 1864 Raine Priory of Hexham (Surtees) I. Pref. i. 63 When his nephew Thomas II wished to regenerate Hexham. 1891 Pall Mall G. 5 May 2/1 Is capital required to ‘regenerate’, as you term it, the non-paying mines? |
5. intr. a. To form again. Chiefly Path. and Biol.
| 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg. C j, I saye fyrste that all sanguyne membres may regenerate and knyt by very regeneracion and consolidacion. 1691 Ray Creation i. (1692) 89 Metals and Minerals..shoot, ferment, and as it were vegetate and regenerate. 1755 Brady in Phil. Trans. XLIX. 249 We have not tried, if it does not regenerate, when cut, like polypes. 1822 Good Study Med. I. 464 When extracted imperfectly it [a polypus] is very apt to regenerate. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 79 Before regenerating they must be destroyed. 1901 T. H. Morgan Regeneration i. 20 A piece of hydra regenerates without the formation of new material. 1928 J. S. Huxley Ess. Pop. Sci. 251 When small pieces of a planarian regenerate, they exhibit what we may call polarity. 1971 [see regulate v. 5]. |
b. To reform, become regenerate.
| 1786 tr. Swedenborg's Chr. Relig. 510 The fellowship or communion called the church..gains admission into every one when he is regenerating. 1835 I. Taylor Spir. Despot. iii. 105 No corporation regenerates by spontaneous energy: it must be brought back to duty..by a hand from without. |