Other forms: renewals
Renewal is making something valid or fresh again. Renewal of a passport, a renewal notice, urban renewal.
The commonest use by far is administrative: subscriptions, licences, insurance and memberships all come up for renewal, and the renewal date is when you must act or lose it. Automatic renewal is the arrangement that charges you again unless you cancel, which is worth watching. The other sense is about revival: urban renewal means regenerating a run-down area, and renewal of interest means it has come back. Note renewable, which now almost always means renewable energy.
1nounrenewalThe act of making something valid again for a further period.
“The renewal notice arrives about a month before.”
2nounfreshA fresh start or revival.
“The whole quarter went through a slow renewal.”
renewal is a making new again.
Proto-Indo-European
*new- (new)
Old English
nīewian — to restore; renovate; renew
Middle English
renewen
English
renew
English, today
renewal
Built from
From renew + -al. renew comes from Middle English renewen, an alteration (possibly on analogy with Latin renovāre) of earlier anewen (“to renew”), from Old English nīewian (“to restore; renovate; renew”), equivalent to re + new. Cognate with Old High German giniuwōn (“to renew”), Middle High German geniuwen (“to renew”), Old Norse nýja (“to renew”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA