innovator

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin innovātor,^[2][3][4] an agent noun from innovō (“to renew, alter, change”),^[2][3][5] formed from in- (“in, into”) and novō (“to make new”), from novus (“new”),^[6][2][5] which is akin to new.^[3][5] Merriam-Webster Unabridged takes it as probably coming through Middle French innovateur,^[5] which the OED compares and dates to 1529,^[2] and Johnson gave only the French word.^[7] The verb innovate is recorded earlier in English, from 1548.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who introduces novelties or new methods: 1598, in J. Florio's A Worlde of Wordes.^[2] Etymonline likewise dates it to the 1590s, and the Shorter Oxford to the late 16th century.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In its early use the word could also mean a revolutionary.^[2][4] Johnson (1755) defined it first as one who introduces novelties, and his quotations show how far it could be a charge: in Shakespeare's Coriolanus, "I attach thee as a traiterous innovator, A foe to th' publick weal", and in South's sermons, the counsel to "detest and persecute all innovators of divine worship".^[7] His Bacon quotation, "time is the greatest innovator", shows the neutral use.^[7] From 1638 to 1660 it could also mean someone who changes a particular thing.^[2] Current dictionaries give it a plain sense, and Merriam-Webster Unabridged includes organizations as well as people.^[5][8]

Timeline

• 1598 – an introducer of novelties or new methods, formerly also a revolutionary.^[2]
• 1638 – one who changes or alters a thing (obsolete by 1660).^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person or organization that introduces new ideas, methods or products: an innovator in solar engineering.^[5][8][2][4]
2. (obsolete) A revolutionary.^[2][4]

Related words

• innovate
• innovation
• new
• novel

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press