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• resume
  resume

  verb (used with object)

  to take up or go on with again after interruption; continue.
• résumé
  résumé

  noun

  a short descriptive summary, as of events

Trivia Time

Resume, in the sense of "a written account of professional qualifications," comes from a French word meaning what?

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resume

¹ American  

[ri-zoom] / rɪˈzum /

verb (used with object)

• resumes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• resumed,
  past participle,  past
• resuming
  present participle

1. 

   to take up or go on with again after interruption; continue.

   to resume a journey.

2. to take or occupy again.

   to resume one's seat.

3. to take or assume use or practice of again.

   to resume her maiden name.

4. to take back.

   to resume the title to a property.

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verb (used without object)

• resumes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• resumed,
  past participle,  past
• resuming
  present participle

1. to go on or continue after interruption.

   The dancing is about to resume.

2. to begin again.

resume ² American  

[rez-oo-may, rez-oo-may] / ˈrɛz ʊˌmeɪ, ˌrɛz ʊˈmeɪ /

Sometimes resumé or résumé

noun

1. a brief written account of personal, educational, and professional qualifications and experience, as that prepared by an applicant for a job.

2. a summing up; summary.

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resume ¹ British  

/ rɪˈzjuːm /

verb

1. to begin again or go on with (something adjourned or interrupted)

2. (tr) to occupy again, take back, or recover

   to resume one's seat

   to resume possession

3. (tr) to assume (a title, office, etc) again

   to resume the presidency

4. archaic to summarize; make a résumé of

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résumé ² British  

/ ˈrɛzjʊˌmeɪ /

noun

1. a short descriptive summary, as of events

2. another name for curriculum vitae

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Spelling

Some French words borrowed into English preserve foreign features, like accent marks: café , déjà vu , résumé , séance , etc. In French, accent marks serve two purposes. They can mark a different vowel quality (the vowels e , è and é are pronounced very differently), or they may distinguish two words that would otherwise be homographs ( ou without an accent means “or,” while où with an accent means “where”). When you use these words in English, it is correct to write them with the French accents or without; the spellings divorcée and divorcee are both accepted. Some people prefer including the accent for accuracy or to evoke a subtle European flavor. The inclusion or omission of an accent mark when naming an establishment cafe or café suggests a certain expectation for the style and tone of the place. Other people find any use of a foreign accent mark to be unnecessary and pretentious. Be aware of your audience when making this decision. As in the original French, accents are useful for differentiating between two homographs. English speakers are more likely to keep the accents in a word like résumé or exposé in order to avoid confusion with the verbs resume or expose . Words without confusable English counterparts, like deja vu or cafe , are less likely to maintain their accents in written English. Generally, the use of foreign accents for words borrowed into English is optional. However, if you do choose to use accented letters, be sure to use the correct accent and be consistent within the word. For example, déjà vu has an acute (rising) accent mark in the first syllable and a grave (falling) accent in the second. The word résumé has two acute accent marks. Avoid haphazard or false accent marking, as sometimes seen in the spellings dejá vu or resumé . The best rule to follow for foreign accent marks is all or nothing.

Usage

Spelling tips for resume There are two words that use the spelling resume, and they’re pronounced very differently, which can make things confusing. As a verb meaning “to continue,” resume is pronounced [ ri-zoom ], which can sound like it should be spelled rezoom. As a noun referring to a list of a person’s professional qualifications, resume is pronounced [ rez-oo-mey ]. To reflect this pronunciation, the noun is sometimes spelled in the French manner, with accent marks (résumé or resumé), but they are not required and it is better to avoid using them. How to spell resume: First, remember that you don’t need any accent marks to spell the noun resume. You can remember how to spell the middle part by remembering that a resume should include the sum of your professional accomplishments. Then just remember that the verb that means “to continue” is spelled the exact same way.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• resumer
  noun
• resumable
  adjective
• unresumed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• resuming
  present
• resumed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• resume
  simple
• resumes
  simple
• have resumed
  perfect
• has resumed
  perfect
• am resuming
  progressive
• are resuming
  progressive
• is resuming
  progressive
• have been resuming
  perfect progressive
• has been resuming
  perfect progressive

Past

• resumed
  simple
• had resumed
  perfect
• was resuming
  progressive
• were resuming
  progressive
• had been resuming
  perfect progressive

Future

• will resume
  simple
• will have resumed
  perfect
• will be resuming
  progressive
• will have been resuming
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of resume¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English resumen, from Middle French resumer or directly from Latin resūmere “to take back, take again,” equivalent to re- “again, back” + sūmere “to take”; see re-, consume

Origin of resume²

First recorded in 1795–1805; from French résumé, noun use of past participle of résumer “to sum up”

Explanation

If you resume something, you start it again after stopping. You might resume singing an aria after breaking to spit out your gum. Resume is from Latin resumere "to take up again, take back," from the prefix re- "again" plus sumere "to take up, take." The Latin verb sumere is formed from the prefix sub- "under, up" plus emere "to take." When you pause a movie or game and then you press play again, what you're really doing is resuming play.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

resume résumé resumes resumed resuming

NASA's live coverage will resume as Dragon approaches the station for rendezvous and docking.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026

The ultimate honor is typically reserved for sporting heroes from the host country, often with Olympic excellence on their resume.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

The incident prompted South Korea to resume anti-Pyongyang loudspeaker broadcasts along the border.

From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026

The regional organisation Igad has also called for fighting to stop and dialogue to resume.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

I saw the rabbi smile broadly, then look down at his book and resume reading.

From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok

We would also provide coaching on how to write a résumé and how to interview effectively.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

And on July 17, she added one more piece of history to the résumé, passing Lisa Leslie to become the Sparks’ all-time leading scorer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

I was somewhat uncomfortable with this practice, and Heritage found it embarrassing enough that my boss there once told me I was forbidden to mention “ghostwriting” on my résumé.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

As tempting as it is, you might want to skip letting artificial intelligence write your résumé.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026

Trevor clicked back over to the website and we stared at her résumé.

From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks

Enzo Maresca's side go to Liverpool on 11 October when the Premier League resumes after the international break.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

Everyone resumes their business, carrying with them the lesson of never sacrificing their spirit even while living in a state of constant vigilance.

From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2026

In the process, she discovered the forgotten digital detritus left on their hard drives: old resumes, photo albums, Word documents.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

New research suggests that resumes written by humans drew more interview requests and positive responses from potential employers than those that were completely written by AI large language models.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026

The program resumes with the CBS announcer introducing the second part of The War of the Worlds.

From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow

Still, yields on longer-term Treasurys barely changed, and they quickly resumed their climb on Wednesday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

On the downside, spending also got a boost from an increase in gas prices after the U.S. and Iran resumed hostilities.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026

When Iza returned to L.A. in July 2024, those services resumed until Iza’s arrest in September of that year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

Regular US television coverage resumed on Friday after White House officials allowed reporters entry.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026

I returned to the archives in Fort Worth and resumed searching through the endless musty boxes and files.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

Ukraine has indicated openness to a deal resuming grain shipments as long as Russia moves to de-escalate, too.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

One of the world's biggest tin mines, located in an autonomous region of war-torn Myanmar, is resuming operations suspended since 2023 and ramping up exports to China, a think tank said Thursday.

From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026

Even if a governor rescinds the moratorium, resuming executions would be a long and complicated process because the state has no approved protocol or facilities to carry out death sentences.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

Talwani, in a ruling last week, criticized the Postal Service for resuming work on the project.

From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026

“We have bigger problems at hand,” Casimir Cybulskis said, resuming the discussion.

From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool

Related Words

• continue
• go on
• proceed
• regain
• reopen
• restart
• return to
• take up