Etymologically
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invasion

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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
  • 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