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REVENANT Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

REVENANT Synonyms | Collins English Thesaurus

The word revenant comes from the French present participle of revenir, meaning "to return" or "to come back".  It traces back to the Latin word revenire, which combines re- ("back" or "again") and venire ("to come").  It's literal meaning is a person or entity that returns after a long absence.  It has a supernatural meaning of a corpse, ghost, or undead being that rises and returns from the grave (often driven by a specific purpose like vengeance or unfinished business).  

According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the noun and adjective revenant first entered the English language in the 1820s, with the earliest recorded evidence dating from 1823 in the Quarterly Review.  The distinct Middle English adjective sense appears briefly in the 15th century before falling out of use, while the modern noun/adjective form was re-borrowed directly from French in the 19th century.)

A revenant—derived from the French revenir ("to return")—is a figure who comes back from the dead or from the brink of death. In storytelling, the revenant serves a unique and powerful narrative function across folklore, literature, and cinema.  

Core Narrative Functions of a Revenant:  
Embodied Memory and Unresolved Trauma: Revenants act as physical manifestations of the past. In both Old Norse literature and modern fiction, they force the living (or the protagonist) to confront historical guilt, individual trauma, or cultural sins that were never properly buried. 
The Cycle of Vengeance: Traditionally, a revenant returns with a singular, consuming purpose: retribution. Stories use them to test the moral cost of revenge, showing how the obsession with an "eye for an eye" turns the living into the dead long before their hearts stop.  
Metaphorical Resurrection and Transformation: Not all revenants are literal undead monsters; many (like Hugh Glass in The Revenant) suffer a near-fatal destruction of their old self. Their "return" symbolizes rebirth, endurance, and the primal will to survive against impossible odds.  
Moral and Spiritual Reckoning: Because they straddle the boundary between the living world and the afterlife, revenants act as mirrors. They challenge the living to choose between grace, forgiveness, or an endless loop of violence.