nostalgia
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
a bittersweet feeling of missing the past or wanting to return to a time you remember fondly.
a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time. Uncountable in general usage, though specific instances may be treated as countable.
Simple“Hearing that old song filled him with nostalgia for his university days.”
In context“The film relies heavily on 1980s nostalgia, using neon aesthetics and synth-pop music to evoke a specific sense of childhood wonder.”
Synonyms - 02 C2 Proficiency
a strong feeling of missing your home or your country when you are away.
the original medical sense of acute homesickness or a longing for familiar surroundings. Now largely replaced by 'homesickness' in modern clinical contexts.
Simple“The sailor suffered from a deep nostalgia for the green hills of his home.”
In context“In eighteenth-century medical texts, nostalgia was often diagnosed as a physical ailment affecting soldiers stationed far from their native villages.”
UsageIn modern English, this sense is almost entirely replaced by 'homesickness' unless writing in a historical context.
Synonymshomesickness
“For those who managed to get tickets last year, the performances were a celebration of one of Britpop’s finest bands and a chance to live through a night of 90s nostalgia.”
“But it’s probably 75% nostalgia.” Trunk reckons it taps into a very particular period of childhood for a certain generation.”
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.