déjà vu

[ dey-zhah voo, vyoo; French dey-zha vy ]
/ ˌdeɪ ʒɑ ˈvu, ˈvyu; French deɪ ʒa ˈvü /

noun

Psychology. the illusion of having previously experienced something actually being encountered for the first time.
disagreeable familiarity or sameness: The new television season had a sense of déjà vu about it—the same old plots and characters with new names.

Origin of déjà vu

1900–05; < French: literally, already seen

British Dictionary definitions for deja vu

déjà vu
/ (ˈdeɪʒæ ˈvuː, French deʒa vy) /

noun

the experience of perceiving a new situation as if it had occurred before. It is sometimes associated with exhaustion or certain types of mental disorder

Word Origin for déjà vu

from French, literally: already seen

Cultural definitions for deja vu

déjà vu
[ (day-zhah vooh) ]

The strange sensation that something one is now experiencing has happened before: “I knew I had never been in the house before, but as I walked up the staircase, I got a weird sense of déjà vu.” From French, meaning “already seen.”