replacement

Pronunciation

• IPA: /rɪˈpleɪs.mənt/, /rəˈpleɪs.mənt/^[1]

Etymology

It is from English replace + -ment.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of replacing: before 1790 in the OED, 1790 in Etymonline, 1743 in MWU.^[4][2][5]

Semantic evolution

Something or someone that takes the place of another is from 1894.^[2][4] In geology, the dissolving of one mineral and its replacement by another is from 1906.^[4]

Timeline

• 1743 – first known use.^[5]
• a. 1790 – act of replacing.^[4]
• 1894 – a substitute.^[2][4]
• 1906 – in geology.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act of replacing something or being replaced; substitution.
2. A person or thing that takes the place of another.
3. (geology) The gradual growth of one mineral in place of another.

Word family

• nonreplacement
• hormone replacement therapy

Related words

• replace

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 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 c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster