OK, but What Is a 'Revenant'? The Meaning Behind Oscars 2016 Best Picture Nominee Title

Chris Pizzello/AP
Culture

The Academy Award for best director went to Alejandro Iñárritu for The Revenant on Sunday, but the win has many people wondering: What does "revenant" mean?

The literal definition, according to Dictionary.com, of the word "revenant" is "a person who returns, or a person who returns as a spirit after death; ghost." Derived from the French term revenir, the word literally means "to come back."

Read more: Finally, Leonardo DiCaprio Wins Best Actor at the Oscars for 'The Revenant'

In the film, Leonardo DiCaprio plays Hugh Glass, "a frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s ... on a quest for survival after being brutally mauled by a bear," according to IMDb. The movie is loosely inspired by the real Hugh Glass, who was attacked by a bear during Gen. William Henry's 1823 exploration of the Dakotas, according to HistoryNet.

DiCaprio won best actor for his role as Glass, his first ever.

Chris Pizzello/AP