This is the 11494th most frequent French word.
revenaient
"Revenaient" means "were coming back" or "were returning."
Here, "revenaient" is used in the imperfect tense to describe a repeated action in the past.
Les enfants revenaient à la maison après l'école.
The children were coming back home after school.
In this case, "revenaient" indicates a habitual action of returning year after year.
Pendant les vacances, les oiseaux migrateurs revenaient toujours au même arbre.
During the holidays, the migratory birds would always return to the same tree.
Here, "revenaient" reflects the repetitive actions of the students returning to the teacher.