Make Your Point > Archived Issues > RISORGIMENTO
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connect this word to others:
A risorgimento is a renaissance, a resurgence, a revival, a renewal, a rec__descence.
Need help recalling that last one? It literally means "a becoming raw again," so in the middle, you'll see the word crude.
"Risorgimento" is one of those cool Italian terms for talking about art, music, and culture, like these:
Lamento: a song of mourning, or a tragic aria in Italian opera;
Divertimento: a musical composition that entertains;
Portamento: the act of gliding seamlessly from one note to another; and
Rifacimento: a new or remodelled work of art or literature.
In each Italian term above, the -mento bit means the same as our -ment in words like "pavement" and "merriment": it's a way to make a noun, so it kind of means "thing, result, product, or action."
Now that we've made sense of the -mento in risorgimento, let's look at the other bits.
The ri- is the same as our re-, meaning "again," and the -sorgi- comes from the Latin surgere, meaning "rise, surge, or attack."
So a risorgimento is literally "a rising again," or "a surging again."
That Latin surgere also gave us surge, resurge, insurgent, resurgent, and source. It all makes sense, right? Those words all have something to do with rising, with surging, or in some cases, with attacking. (Surgere looks so much like the word surgery, so why didn't I list it? Surgeons--and their patients--will be happy to note that surgery comes from the Greek kheirourgos, "hand work," not the Latin surgere, "attack"!)
We're done with surgere now, right?
Almost!
A neat thing about surgere is that you can break it down even more. Cut it in half, and notice how it's built from the Latin words sub + regere. So surgere, more literally, means "to rule from below, to guide or direct from below, or to keep straight from below."
And--regere! We know lots of English words from that one. Reign, regime, region, realm, rector, direct, regimen, correct, plus oodles more, including in__rigible, our word for lost causes, for things and people that are so bad that nothing you do will rule them, guide them, direct them, or keep them straight. (Remember this line from The Sound of Music? "I'm Kurt, I'm eleven, and I'm in__rigible.")
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make your point with...
"RISORGIMENTO"
This is Italian for "resurgence movement," or more figuratively, "recovery of power and renewal of culture."
Strictly speaking, the Risorgimento was the movement that concluded in 1870, when all parts of Italy united, with its capital in Rome.
And loosely speaking, a risorgimento is a fresh, lively resurgence of widespread activity or interest in some particular thing.
Pronunciation:
ree SOAR juh MEN toe
Part of speech:
Noun, the countable kind: "a risorgimento," "the risorgimento," "the trend's risorgimento."
Other forms:
none
How to use it:
With its Italian spelling and history, this rare word is as magnificent as it is showy. Use it to label some struggle or process of rebirth or reunification.
You might talk about some culture, subculture, political party, industry, economy, or sphere of interest or activity having a risorgimento, reaching its risorgimento, forcing a risorgimento, hoping for a risorgimento, etc.
examples:
As Facebook launches its own digital currency, we worry whether it's a step toward some global financial risorgimento or some hideous new reality, with Facebook a first-world, all-powerful dictatorship.
"What is the promise of the Republican Risorgimento if not that of innocence regained, of capitalism unbound, of freedom to go plundering through a world where the spoils properly belong to the rich, the adventurous, and the strong?"
— Lewis H. Lapham, Harper's Magazine, June 1981
has this page helped you understand "risorgimento"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "risorgimento" without saying "resurgence" or "renaissance."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "In (some field, ideal, or movement)'s risorgimento, (someone) emerged as a hero."
Example: "In feminism's risorgimento, Gloria Steinem emerged as a hero."
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
Our game this month is "Big Bang Thicket."
In each issue, hack your way through the polysyllabic title of an episode of The Big Bang Theory, and use your knowledge of vocabulary to answer the question about what happens in that episode.
From the previous issue:
In "The Luminous Fish Effect," does Sheldon experiment with fish as night lights or as message transmitters?
Answer:
Night lights. Something luminous is bright and shiny.
Try this one today:
In "The Financial Permeability," does Penny suffer financial woes or stumble on financial gains?
review this word:
1. A near opposite of RISORGIMENTO is
A. DISSOLUTION.
B. ECCENTRICITY.
C. OVERABUNDANCE.
2. In American Risorgimento, Dennis Berthold highlights parallels between the Italian and American
A. economic downturns
B. struggle for a unified national identity
C. flags, from their first to their current incarnations
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
A risorgimento is a renaissance, a resurgence, a revival, a renewal, a rec__descence.
"RISORGIMENTO" This is Italian for "resurgence movement," or more figuratively, "recovery of power and renewal of culture."
As Facebook launches its own digital currency, we worry whether it's a step toward some global financial risorgimento or some hideous new reality, with Facebook a first-world, all-powerful dictatorship.
Explain the meaning of "risorgimento" without saying "resurgence" or "renaissance."
Fill in the blanks: "In (some field, ideal, or movement)'s risorgimento, (someone) emerged as a hero."
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. A near opposite of RISORGIMENTO is
|