nostalgia

Definition

A bittersweet feeling when you remember the past with both happiness and sadness. It’s a longing for times, places, or experiences that are gone.

Etymology

Coined in the 1600s from Greek “nostos” (return home) + “algos” (pain), originally used as a medical term for homesickness. It later broadened to mean emotional longing for any past time, not just home.

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