nostalgia

[no-stal-juh, -jee-uh, nuh-] /nɒˈstæl dʒə, -dʒi ə, nə-/
noun
1.
a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time:
a nostalgia for his college days.
2.
something that elicits or displays nostalgia.
Origin
1770-80; < Neo-Latin < Greek nóst(os) a return home + -algia -algia
Related forms
nostalgic, adjective
Examples from the web for nostalgia
  • He dismissed nostalgia and sentimentality to focus strictly on music itself.
  • If you move frequently enough, you'll lose the nostalgia soon enough.
  • Behind the nostalgia lies growing inequality.
  • Students and nostalgia buffs will treasure his book, for different reasons.
  • It actually brought tears of nostalgia to my eyes.
  • The tenderness and nostalgia with which the singer invests the material are guaranteed to pay off in many spins and plays.
  • It's a largely enjoyable nostalgia, but nostalgia nonetheless.
  • Just because it's old doesn't mean it's nostalgia.
  • Well, false nostalgia is one of the hallmarks of our society
  • It was this nostalgia that sent me on a short and nearly fruitless search for the original theatrical release to show the kids.
British Dictionary definitions for nostalgia

nostalgia

/nɒˈstældʒə; -dʒɪə/
noun
1.
a yearning for the return of past circumstances, events, etc
2.
the evocation of this emotion, as in a book, film, etc
3.
longing for home or family; homesickness
Word Origin
C18: New Latin (translation of German Heimweh homesickness), from Greek nostos a return home + -algia
Word Origin and History for nostalgia
n.

1770, "severe homesickness" (considered as a disease), Modern Latin (cf. French nostalgie, 1802), coined 1668 by Johannes Hofer, as a rendering of German heimweh, from Greek algos "pain, grief, distress" (see -algia) + nostos "homecoming," from PIE *nes- "to return safely home" (cf. Old Norse nest "food for a journey," Sanskrit nasate "approaches, joins," German genesen "to recover," Gothic ganisan "to heal," Old English genesen "to recover"). Transferred sense (the main modern one) of "wistful yearning for the past" first recorded 1920.

nostalgia in Medicine

nostalgia nos·tal·gia (nŏ-stāl'jə, nə-)
n.

  1. A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past.

  2. The condition of being homesick; homesickness.

nos·tal'gic (-jĭk) adj.