Recreation

[Dr. Goodword]

• recreation •

Pronunciation: re-kri-ay-shên • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun, mass

Meaning: Self-entertainment by pleasurable activity; amusement, diversion, pastime.

Notes: Careful not to confuse this word with recreation "creating again, anew". This word is sometimes spelled re-creation to make the distinction between the two clearer. A recreative person involved in recreation may be called a recreator. Recreational refers to things used, done or otherwise involved with recreation, as 'recreational drug' or 'recreational vehicle'.

In Play: Recreation refers to activities other than work: "As a professional baseball player, Jerry liked getting paid for what most men considered recreation." Occasionally we find an overlap of work and recreation: "To Barbie Dahl gossip is just a harmless form of recreation."

Word History: Today's Good Word borrowed from Old French recreacion, passed down from Latin recreatio(n) "recovery from sickness", the action noun for recreare "to restore, refresh". This word is composed of re- "again, anew" + creare "to create", which Latin created from PIE k'er-/k'or- "to grow", origin also of Armenian serr "gender, sex", Albanian thjerrë "lentil (seed)", Lithuanian šerti "to feed", Russian kormit' "to feed", Greek koros "boy" and kore "girl", and Latin Ceres "goddess of agriculture". (Now a round of appreciative e-applause for Tony Bowden of London, who brought today's remarkable Good Word to our attention.)

[George Kovac]

As noted by Dr GoodWord, this word is distinct from the less common word “recreation,” sometimes spelled as”re-creation” for clarity.

Perhaps the most familiar usage of “re-creation” is in the Christian hymn “Morning Has Broken.” Cat Stevens recorded a lovely version of this hymn, which became a pop hit in 1971.

The song is available on YouTube. https://youtu.be/uZAsfB1Np-8

The lyrics are:

Morning Has Broken

Morning has broken like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the world
Sweet the rains new fall, sunlit from Heaven
Like the first dewfall on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where His feet pass
Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day
Morning has broken like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the world.

[Debbymoge]

The last two words in the fourth line and last I have always heard as
"The Word".
That still seems more appropriate to me than "the world".
Does it seem so to anyone else?

[Audiendus]

Note that recreant looks as if it comes from the same Latin verb as recreation, but it does not – it comes from Medieval Latin recredere. (French turns both Latin present participle endings -ans and -ens into -ant.)

http://alphadictionary.com/goodword/word/recreant

[Audiendus]

The last two words in the fourth line and last I have always heard as
"The Word".
That still seems more appropriate to me than "the world".
Does it seem so to anyone else?

Yes – "Word" rhymes with "bird".

[George Kovac]

Lyrics posted on line — especially of popular songs — often contain errors or variations. Sometimes the performer has altered the words to suit their taste or interpretation, other times the poster (often a just a fan writing what they think they heard) just got it wrong.

If you look for the lyrics to Morning Has Broken at hymnary.org you will see the lyric as “word” not “world.” Theologically, (and as a rhyme), that makes more sense.

Nice catch, by the way. Keen ear.