Etymologically
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representation

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 04:10. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˌrep.rɪ.zenˈteɪ.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English representacioun, borrowed from Old French representacion and directly borrowed from Latin repraesentātiō (“a bringing before one, a showing”) (accusative repraesentationem),[2][3][4] a noun of action from the past participle stem of repraesentāre (“to show, exhibit, display”) (see represent).[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

An image or likeness: about 1400 in Etymonline, about 1425 in the OED.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

A material image or figure is from about 1477, and expressing something by a symbol from 1526.[6] The performance of a play is from 1589.[6][4] Presenting something to the mind or imagination is from the 1640s,[2] and a statement of facts made to influence opinion, often a protest, from the 1670s.[2][4] The legislative sense, the fact of being represented by chosen delegates, is by 1769, hence the system by which communities have a voice in the making of their laws.[2] In mathematics a homomorphism from an abstract group to another structure is from 1897.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – an image, likeness.[2]
  • 1526 – symbolic expression.[6]
  • 1589 – a performance of a play.[6]
  • 1640s – presentation to the mind.[2]
  • 1670s – a statement of facts, a protest.[2]
  • 1769 – representation by delegates.[2]
  • 1897 – in mathematics.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act of representing, or the state of being represented, especially in a legislature.
  2. Something that represents another thing, such as a picture or symbol.
  3. (often plural) A statement of facts or arguments, especially a formal protest.
  4. A performance or production of a play.

Word family

  • representational
  • representationally
  • nonrepresentation
  • overrepresentation
  • underrepresentation
  • proportional representation

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 e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c 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 Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press