'Regenerate' is Latin for 'brought forth again' — from the vast PIE birth-root behind 'gene' and 'genesis.'
To grow again after being damaged or lost; to bring new and more vigorous life to an area or institution.
From Latin 'regenerātus,' past participle of 'regenerāre' (to bring forth again, to produce anew), from 're-' (again, back) + 'generāre' (to beget, to produce, to bring into being), from 'genus' (birth, race, kind, stock), from PIE *ǵenh₁- (to give birth, to beget, to produce). The root *ǵenh₁- is extraordinarily productive: it underlies 'generate,' 'generation,' 'gender,' 'genre,' 'gentle' (of good birth), 'genuine' (born of the right stock), 'indigenous,' 'genius' (one's birth-spirit), and through Greek 'genos,' the entire family of 'gene,' 'genetics,' 'genealogy,' and 'genocide.' The word entered English
The Doctor Who concept of 'regeneration' — a Time Lord dying and being reborn in a new body — draws on the word's original theological meaning. In early Christian usage, 'regeneration' specifically meant spiritual rebirth through baptism. The sci-fi usage and the religious usage share the same metaphor: death followed by a new form of the same essential being.
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