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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-mey, rez-oo-mey] / 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

At the start of this year, it looked like the inflation rate was on track to resume cooling.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Though he boasts a long resume in California electoral politics, Becerra went decades without a challenging election fight — until this year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

"These trips will resume as soon as the situation stabilises and full protection is provided for the returnees."

From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026

For anyone keeping score, that leaves Trump’s publicly stated resume including businessman, president, golf-course owner — and, apparently, one of the world’s foremost grass experts.

From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026

Lyndon Johnson had halted the bombing of North Vietnam, and Nixon was reluctant to resume it.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin

After 30 years of innovation in the L.A. music scene, Cut Chemist’s résumé of achievements is too long to list.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

El-Sayed is not Platner; he’s been in electoral politics for nearly a decade and has a polished résumé.

From Slate ● Jul. 18, 2026

For behind the humility, résumé, folksy affect and demonstrable legislative mastery has always lurked a little engine of ambition that, like Lincoln’s, “knew no rest.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

In the audio clip from the performance, we hear Deputy Chief Investigator John Goldman explaining to Weist that he is essentially constructing a résumé from her answers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026

I debated whether to even send in my résumé.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

When the cooking resumes, several salmon cakes have already been shaped and set aside.

From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026

My peers use it to reteach confusing classes, polish papers and resumes, learn skills like coding and complete tedious tasks in seconds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

May 27: Boeing resumes production of the 737 MAX at low volumes.

From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026

"Once it resumes normal operations, Swift could continue searching for more examples of out-of-place black holes."

From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026

He tapples rapidly into his dimputer, tapple, tapple, tapple, pauses, looks up, ponders the ceiling, resumes tappling.

From "The Unfinished Angel" by Sharon Creech

The investigation was paused as a result of the by-election and resumed following his return to Parliament.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

Those conditions echo the terms of a so-called memorandum of understanding which was reached in June and collapsed as fighting resumed.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

After a brief pause in June and July, U.S. stocks have resumed their pattern of jumping from record high to record high.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

The Dodgers had lost seven in a row before finally winning Saturday at Arizona, then promptly resumed the slide Sunday with a loss to the Diamondbacks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

They climbed into a pair of golf carts and, with Tru driving one and Mother the other, resumed their caravan across the studio lot.

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

As we string groups of words together in our heads, resting and resuming, we take in almost unconsciously the little signposts of punctuation that give shape and rhythm to what we’re reading.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

“That said, there is still a meaningful gap between talks resuming and the Strait of Hormuz fully reopening,” he added.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026

"Now the plant is resuming operations, specialists and workers are being recruited. We are pinning our hopes on this plant, that people will come and the village will continue to live."

From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026

The president’s proximity to Iran as hostilities were resuming was also a factor, the Journal reported at the time.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

We rested a half-hour before resuming our journey.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

Related Words

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