nostalgia

noun

nos·​tal·​gia nä-ˈstal-jə How to pronounce nostalgia (audio)
nə-,
 also  nȯ-,
nō-;
nə-ˈstäl-
1
: a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition
also : something that evokes nostalgia
2
: the state of being homesick : homesickness
nostalgist
nä-ˈstal-jist How to pronounce nostalgia (audio)
nə-
 also  nȯ-
nō-;
nə-ˈstäl-
noun
plural nostalgists
… is no nostalgist chasing the resurrection of the grand old days. Joe O'Connor

Examples of nostalgia in a Sentence

My own feelings were that since I'd jettisoned employment, marriage, nostalgia and swampy regret, I was now rightfully a man aquiver with possibility and purpose … Richard Ford, Independence Day, 1995
… the script is written in advance, around the uplifting themes of our civic religion: reconciliation, patriotism, self-sacrifice, the bond of leader and little guy, nostalgia for what is inevitably called "a simpler time." Katha Pollitt, Nation, 22 May 1995
Nevertheless, if one understands the nostalgia for war which marked these years of his break with America, it still remains a nostalgia that is empyreal and histrionic. Only once in his career did MacArthur lead as small a body of men as a company—one somehow feels that the idea of MacArthur, even as a boy, in command of anything less than a division verges on the ludicrous … William Styron, "MacArthur," 8 Oct. 1964, in This Quiet Dust and Other Writings1982
A wave of nostalgia swept over me when I saw my childhood home. He was filled with nostalgia for his college days.
Recent Examples on the Web In an age of reboots, spinoffs and sequels, nostalgia sells. Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN, 6 Mar. 2024 The combination of this specific smell and music, so familiar from my student days here, acted like some kind of nostalgia drug. Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2024 Steeped in nostalgia, the film captures the uneasy yet comforting sensation of returning home. Holly Jones, Variety, 6 Mar. 2024 Written in 1937, the American songbook standard is full of nostalgia, wit and romance. Reggie Nadelson, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024 The latest survey found that anti-establishment beliefs rest on a sense of economic stagnation and are correlated with poor economic performance, inequality, and nostalgia about the past. Clifford Young, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2024 But this bit of nostalgia is mixed with the inside-out aesthetic that is so prevalent in yachting right now, with near sole-to-ceiling windows in the salon and very low furniture that serves to amplify the open-concept layout. Christopher King, Robb Report, 27 Feb. 2024 Apart from the logistical challenges, the setting demands a certain stately nostalgia. Shamilee Vellu, Travel + Leisure, 24 Feb. 2024 The sentiments of people and places trigger nostalgia with Mercury in Pisces. USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nostalgia.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin, from Greek nóstos "return, homecoming" (nominal derivative, with o-ablaut and the suffix -to-, from the base of néomai, neîsthai "to come/go [home, back], return") + -o- -o- + -algia -algia; néomai going back to the Indo-European verbal base *nes- "escape danger, return safely," whence also Germanic *nesan- "to be saved, return safely" (whence Old English nesan, genesan "to be saved, survive" [strong verb class V], Old Saxon ginesan "to be saved, convalesce," Old High German, "to recover, be saved," Gothic ganisan "to be saved"), Sanskrit násate "approaches, resorts to someone, joins"; from a causative stem *nos-éi̯e- Germanic *nazjan-, whence Old English nerian "to save, preserve," Old Frisian nera "to save, nourish, Old Saxon nerian "to rescue, redeem, nourish," Old High German nerien, nerren "to nourish, support, save, heal," Gothic nasjan "to save, heal"; and from lengthened grade *nōzjan- Old Icelandic nœra "to refresh, nourish"

Note: The Latin word nostalgia was coined by the physician Johannes Hofer (1669-1752), a native of Mühlhausen/Mulhouse in Alsace, in his doctoral thesis Dissertatio medica de ΝΟΣΤΑΛΓΙΑ, oder Heimwehe (Basel, 1688), as a calque of the German word Heimweh. — Also assigned to the Indo-European verbal base *nes- by some are Tocharian A nasam, B nesau "(I) am," though Douglas Adams (A Dictionary of Tocharian B, Revised and Enlarged, Rodopi, 2013, s.v.) proposes a more attractive solution.

First Known Use

1756, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of nostalgia was in 1756

Dictionary Entries Near nostalgia

Cite this Entry

“Nostalgia.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nostalgia. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

nostalgia

noun
nos·​tal·​gia nä-ˈstal-jə How to pronounce nostalgia (audio)
nə-
: a longing for something past
nostalgic adjective
nostalgically adverb

Medical Definition

nostalgia

noun
1
: the state of being homesick
2
: a wistful or excessively sentimental sometimes abnormal yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition
nostalgic adjective
nostalgically adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on nostalgia

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