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Synonyms

resurrection

American  
[rez-uh-rek-shuhn] / ˌrɛz əˈrɛk ʃən /

noun

  1. the act of rising from the dead.

  2. Christianity. Resurrection, the rising of Christ after His death and burial.

  3. Religion. Resurrection, the rising of the dead on Judgment Day.

  4. the state of those risen from the dead.

  5. a rising again, as from decay, disuse, etc.; revival.

  6. Christian Science. a rising above mortality through the understanding of spiritual life as demonstrated by Jesus Christ.

Resurrection 1 British  
/ ˌrɛzəˈrɛkʃən /

noun

  1. the rising again of Christ from the tomb three days after his death

  2. the rising again from the dead of all mankind at the Last Judgment

"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
resurrection 2 British  
/ ˌrɛzəˈrɛkʃən /

noun

  1. a supposed act or instance of a dead person coming back to life

  2. belief in the possibility of this as part of a religious or mystical system

  3. the condition of those who have risen from the dead

    we shall all live in the resurrection

  4. the revival of something

    a resurrection of an old story
"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
Resurrection Cultural  

  1. The rising of Jesus from the tomb after his death; a central and distinctive belief of the Christian faith. The Gospels state that after Jesus was crucified and lay in a tomb between Friday evening and Sunday morning, he rose, in body as well as in spirit, and appeared alive to his followers. His resurrection is the basis for the Christian belief that not only Jesus but all Christians will triumph over death. Christians celebrate the Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Other Word Forms

  • nonresurrection noun
  • nonresurrectional adjective
  • postresurrection noun
  • postresurrectional adjective
  • resurrectional adjective
  • resurrective adjective

Etymology

Origin of resurrection

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin resurrēctiōn-, stem of resurrēctiō, the Easter church festival, from resurrēct(us) “risen again” (past participle of resurgere “to rise again”; resurge ( def. ) ) + -iō -ion ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Easter, the principal holiday of the Christian church, celebrates the resurrection of Jesus.

From Barron's • Apr. 2, 2026

"It is the resurrection of the big Bollywood hit. It's reshaping the business."

From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026

Overnight, the president mused about a resurrection of the Credit Card Competition Act, which would require merchants get a choice of an alternative and lower-cost credit-card routing option beyond what the two major networks offer.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 13, 2026

Even by those standards, the resurrection of the namesake heel of “Spartacus: House of Ashur” is quite the feat.

From Salon • Dec. 7, 2025

His worshipers believed that his death and resurrection showed that the soul lives on forever after the body dies.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.