invasion

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪnˈveɪʒən/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English (Scots) invasioune, borrowed from Middle French invasion or directly invāsio (“an attack”),^[2][3][4] from invādere (“to enter, attack”) (see invade), from in- (“in”) and vādere (“to go”),^[2] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *wadh- (“to go”), also the source of wade.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

An assault, the act of entering a country as an enemy: the mid-15th century in Etymonline,^[2] late Middle English in SOED and NODE;^[4][5] the OED has 1539.^[6]

Semantic evolution

A harmful incursion of any kind, as of the sea or disease, is from about 1566.^[6][2] Encroachment on another's rights or property, as invasion of privacy, is from 1650.^[6][2] In pathology, the spread of microorganisms or cancer cells into tissue is from 1891,^[6] and in ecology, the spread of a species into a new area from 1905.^[6]

Timeline

• mid-15th century – an attack on a country.^[2]
• c. 1566 – a harmful incursion.^[6]
• 1650 – an encroachment on rights.^[6]
• 1891 – in pathology.^[6]
• 1905 – in ecology.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An act of invading a country or region with armed forces.
2. An unwelcome arrival or spread of something: an invasion of tourists.
3. An intrusion on a person's rights or privacy.
4. (medicine) The spread of a disease or cells into healthy tissue.

Word family

• preinvasion
• reinvasion
• invasion of privacy
• home invasion

Related words

• invade
• invader
• invasive
• evade
• pervade
• wade

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press