Dictionary

rewild en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˌriˈwaɪld/
• /ˈriˈwaɪld/
• (General-American) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Italic *wre- Latin re-der. Old French re-bor. Middle English re- English re- English wild English rewild From re- + wild.

Meanings

1. To return an area to a more wild state, especially to repopulate it with wild animals that have become extirpated.
   • She is not alone in her concerns. The push from local authorities to rewild spaces is causing consternation in villages, towns and cities across the country. 2023 August 26, Phoebe Weston, “Weed-choked pavements anger residents as ‘rewilding’ divides UK towns and cities”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 29 Jan 2024:
   • Over the past 20 years or so, from South America to the Danube basin, ad hoc coalitions of politicians, activists and conscience-stricken billionaires (whose core activities, such as Povlsen’s clothing business, are often less than environmentally friendly), have rewilded millions of acres of mostly failed agricultural and grazing land. 2020 February 25, Christopher de Bellaigue, “The end of farming?”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 06 Jan 2026:
   • Told in the form of a personal journey, Paul Martin's book covers his own boyhood bird-watching, graduate work in evolutionary biology, and a distinguished academic career; it culminates in a daring plan to truly rewild North America. 2005, Paul Schultz Martin, Twilight of the Mammoths: Ice Age Extinctions and the Rewilding of America, University of California Press, →ISBN, page XIII:
   • Some scientists and others now argue that we should be bringing some of those ghosts back, part of a controversial movement to “rewild” parts of Europe and North America, whether by reintroducing extant species, reviving extinct ones, or attempting to reconstruct ecosystems. 2016 January 26, John Carey, “Core Concept: Rewilding”, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, →DOI, pages 806–808:

Forms

Deriveds

rewilding · rewilder

Descendants

rewilden · herwilderen

Translations (7)

fr réensauvager (to return an area to a wilder state) · es asilvestrar (to return an area to a wilder state) · ca resilvestrar (to return an area to a wilder state) · nl herwilderen (to return an area to a wilder state) · cmn 再野化 (to return an area to a wilder state) · es resilvestrar (to return an area to a wilder state) · fi villiinnyttää (to return an area to a wilder state)