word
Respawn
To come back to life โ usually right where you died, ready to try again.
Origin
Standard mechanic in shooters and arcade games since the 1980s: when your character dies, the game reinstantiates them at a checkpoint. The word combines 'respond' and 'spawn' (the moment a unit is created in a game).
Modern usage
Used in fitness, recovery, and tongue-in-cheek descriptions of mornings, weekends, or career restarts. 'I'll respawn after coffee.'
Tags
restart
death