Renaître

Renaître is a French verb meaning to be reborn or to arise again, and more broadly to experience revival or renewal. It can be used literally to denote life returning, or figuratively for the revival of a city, a movement, a tradition, or an individual’s energy or spirits. The word is composed of re- (again) and naître (to be born), tracing back to Latin nasci, to be born.

Renaître is an irregular, intransitive verb that typically forms compound tenses with the auxiliary être. In the present tense, its forms are je renais, tu renais, il renaît, nous renaissons, vous renaissez, ils renaissent. The infinitive is renaître; the past participle is rené (masc) or renée (fem), used with être in compound tenses and agreeing with the subject in gender and number. The present participle is renaissant.

Common uses include religious contexts, such as the notion of being “born again,” and secular contexts describing revival after adversity, decline, or neglect. Examples include “La ville renaît après la catastrophe” and “Ce livre marque la renaissance de sa carrière.” The verb often conveys a process over time rather than a single event.

Related terms include renaissance, the noun for a rebirth or revival, and réincarner, which denotes reincarnation rather than rebirth in a modern sense. Renaître remains a flexible verb in literary and everyday French, versatile for describing literal or metaphorical renewal.