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DictionaryRoot: algos
Greek

algos

pain, grief

1 / 1
A young man pauses over a large childhood photograph, tenderly touching the pictured child while holding his preserved toy sailboat close to his chest.
noun

nostalgia

nuh-STAL-juh/nəˈstældʒə/

A sentimental longing for an earlier time or place.

Etymology
nostGreekhomecoming
+algiaGreekpain, grief

The pain of wanting to return home originally named severe homesickness. That longing for a distant place broadened into longing for a vanished time—the sentimental yearning for the past.

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