The term rewilding was coined in 1990 by US conservationist and environmental activist Dave Foreman, co-founder of Earth First!, a radical environmental protection society. Popularization of the term in the UK is often associated with writer and environmental activist George Monbiot, who regularly writes for the Guardian newspaper on the topic. As well as its nominal form, the word also appears as a transitive verb rewild, often realized as the participle adjective rewilded, e.g. rewilded wolves.

The term rewilding was coined in 1990 by US conservationist and environmental activist Dave Foreman, co-founder of Earth First!, a radical environmental protection society. Popularization of the term in the UK is often associated with writer and environmental activist George Monbiot, who regularly writes for the Guardian newspaper on the topic. As well as its nominal form, the word also appears as a transitive verb rewild, often realized as the participle adjective rewilded, e.g. rewilded wolves.