nostalgia

[ no-stal-juh, -jee-uh, nuh- ]

/ nɒˈstæl dʒə, -dʒi ə, nə- /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR nostalgia ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time: a nostalgia for his college days.

something that elicits or displays nostalgia.

Nearby words

Origin of nostalgia

1770–80; < New Latin < Greek nóst(os) a return home + -algia -algia

Related formsnos·tal·gic, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for nostalgia

De Robertis, an East Village mainstay, closes tomorrow—a moment for nostalgia, but also pragmatism.
De Robertis, a New York Great, Bids Farewell|Lizzie Crocker|December 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In “Back Home,” Gil also revisits the nostalgia for the South explored in his Johns Hopkins thesis, “Circle of Stone.”
‘The Prince of Chocolate City’: When Gil Scott-Heron Became A Music Icon|Marcus Baram|November 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Yet her work is all heart, her flights of fancy rich with nostalgia without being mawkish.
The Singular Artist of New Yorkistan|Lizzie Crocker|November 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Levin rightly disparages the “nostalgia” that he says “blinds” both liberals and conservatives to this new reality.
Relax—Both Parties Are Going Extinct|Nick Gillespie|November 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The books are not nostalgia, and I would hate for them to be thought of as nostalgia.
Sarah Waters: Queen of the Tortured Lesbian Romance|Tim Teeman|September 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Most of these emigrants, moreover, suffered from the nostalgia which is characteristic of the Swiss.
Lausanne|Francis Henry Gribble
He sat down on a stool and bowed his face in his hands, while his shoulders heaved up and down in the emotion of nostalgia.
Abe and Mawruss|Montague Glass
In some ill-defined way Harrington Surtaine was involved in that nostalgia.
The Clarion|Samuel Hopkins Adams
That was my great object in those days; I was a victim to nostalgia, or home sickness.
The Memoires of Casanova, Complete|Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
The nostalgia of the boards is a disease your love might not have warded off.
The Grey Wig: Stories and Novelettes|Israel Zangwill

British Dictionary definitions for nostalgia

nostalgia

/ (nɒˈstældʒə, -dʒɪə) /

noun

a yearning for the return of past circumstances, events, etc

the evocation of this emotion, as in a book, film, etc

longing for home or family; homesickness

Word Origin for nostalgia

C18: New Latin (translation of German Heimweh homesickness), from Greek nostos a return home + -algia

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for nostalgia

nostalgia

1770, "severe homesickness" (considered as a disease), Modern Latin (cf. French nostalgie, 1802), coined 1668 by Johannes Hofer, as a rendering of German heimweh, from Greek algos "pain, grief, distress" (see -algia) + nostos "homecoming," from PIE *nes- "to return safely home" (cf. Old Norse nest "food for a journey," Sanskrit nasate "approaches, joins," German genesen "to recover," Gothic ganisan "to heal," Old English genesen "to recover"). Transferred sense (the main modern one) of "wistful yearning for the past" first recorded 1920.

Medicine definitions for nostalgia

nostalgia

[ nŏ-stăl′jə, nə- ]

n.

A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past.

The condition of being homesick; homesickness.

Related formsnos•tal′gic (-jĭk) adj.

nostalgia

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of nostalgia

Examples from the Web for nostalgia

nostalgia

noun

Word Origin for nostalgia

nostalgia

nostalgia

n.