Etymologically
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innovation

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˌɪn.əˈveɪ.ʃən/, /ˌɪn.əʊˈveɪ.ʃən/, US /ˌɪn.əˈveɪ.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English innovacion, borrowed from Late Latin innovātiō (accusative innovationem),[2][3][4] probably also through Middle French,[5] a noun of action from the past participle stem of innovāre (“to change; to renew”) (see innovate),[2][4] from in- “into” and novus “new” (see new).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Restoration or renewal: the mid-15th century in Etymonline.[2]

Semantic evolution

A novel change, something new introduced into an established arrangement, is from the 1540s, 1548 in the OED,[2][6] and the action of introducing novelties from 1553.[6] In the late 16th and early 17th centuries it could also mean a political revolution or rebellion, after Latin novae res.[6] In Scots law it is the substitution of a new obligation for an old one (1861),[6] and in botany the growth of a new shoot from 1835.[6] In commerce, introducing a new product to the market is from 1939.[6]

Timeline

  • mid-15th century – renewal.[2]
  • 1548 – a novel change.[6]
  • 1553 – introducing novelties.[6]
  • 1601 – a rebellion (obsolete).[6]
  • 1939 – a new product.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A new method, idea, device or product.
  2. The act of introducing new things or ways of doing things.

Word family

  • innovational
  • innovate
  • innovative
  • innovator
  • new
  • novel
  • novice
  • renovate

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press