nostalgia

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A bittersweet longing for happy times in the past.

   Old photographs filled her with nostalgia for her school years.

2. 2
   noun

   A longing for home or familiar surroundings; homesickness.

   The smell of his mother's cooking sent a wave of nostalgia through him.

From New Latin nostalgia, coined by Johannes Hofer in 1688 from Ancient Greek νόστος (nóstos, “returning home”) + ἄλγος (álgos, “pain”), calquing German Heimweh. Ancient Greek *νοσταλγία (*nostalgía) is unattested. Transferred sense probably influenced by French nostalgie, especially in literature. Compare Italian nostalgia, Spanish nostalgia, Portuguese nostalgia and French nostalgie.

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