Etymologically
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removal

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /rɪˈmuː.vəl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English remove + -al.[2][3][4] Earlier nouns were remove and removing.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of taking away entirely: the 1590s in Etymonline, 1595 in MWU and 1597 in the OED.[2][4][5] The SOED gives the early 16th century for a change of place or residence.[3]

Semantic evolution

Changing one's place, especially one's home, is from 1642, the 1640s in Etymonline,[5][2] and dismissal from an office from 1647.[5] The removal of a person by murder is from 1655, a quasi-euphemism.[5][2] In Irish English, a removal is the formal taking of a coffin to the church (1890).[5] Removal van and removal company are British.[1][6] In South Africa, removal is the forced displacement of a community.[6]

Timeline

  • 1595 – taking away.[4]
  • 1642 – change of residence.[5]
  • 1647 – dismissal from office.[5]
  • 1655 – murder.[5]
  • 1890 – removal of remains (Irish).[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act of taking something away, or the fact of being removed.
  2. (British) Moving to a new home: a removal firm.
  3. Dismissal from an office.

References

  1. ^ a b 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins