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nostalgic

 - 5 dictionary results

nos⋅tal⋅gia

  [no-stal-juh, -jee-uh, nuh-]
Use nostalgic in a Sentence
–noun
1. 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.
2. something that elicits or displays nostalgia.
Origin:
1770–80; < NL < Gk nóst(os) a return home + -algia -algia

Related forms:
nos⋅tal⋅gic, adjective
nos⋅tal⋅gi⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To nostalgic
nos·tal·gi·a   (nŏ-stāl'jə, nə-)   
n.  

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

  2. The condition of being homesick; homesickness.


[Greek nostos, a return home; see nes-1 in Indo-European roots + -algia.]
nos·tal'gic (-jĭk) adj., nos·tal'gi·cal·ly adv., nos·tal'gist n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

nostalgia 
1770, "severe homesickness" (considered as a disease), Mod.L. (cf. Fr. nostalgie, 1802), coined 1668 by Johannes Hofer as a rendering of Ger. heimweh, from Gk. nostos "homecoming" + algos "pain, grief, distress." Transferred sense (the main modern one) of "wistful yearning for the past" first recorded 1920.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: nos·tal·gia
Pronunciation: nä-'stal-j&, n&-, no-; n&-'stäl-
Function: noun
1 : the state of beinghomesick
2 : a wistful or excessively sentimental sometimes abnormal yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition —nos·tal·gic /-jik/ adjective —nos·tal·gi·cal·ly /-ji-k(&-)lE/ adverb
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

nostalgia nos·tal·gia (nŏ-stāl'jə, nə-)
n.

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

  2. The condition of being homesick; homesickness.

nos·tal'gic (-jĭk) adj.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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