review

Pronunciation

• IPA: /rɪˈvjuː/^[1]

Etymology

The noun is borrowed from Middle French reveue, modern revue,^[2][3][4] a noun use of the feminine past participle of reveeir (“to see again”),^[5][6] from Latin revidēre, from re- (“again”) and vidēre (“to see”),^[5][6][7] from Proto-Indo-European *weid- (“to see”).^[5][6] The verb is partly from re- and view, and partly from the noun.^[4][3][7] revue is a doublet.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A formal inspection of military forces: 1441,^[2][8] or the mid-15th century.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The act of looking over something again with a view to correcting it is from 1565.^[9][2][5] A general survey of a subject is from about 1600,^[5] or 1604,^[9] and in law the revision of a sentence by another court from 1654.^[9] A retrospective survey is from the 1670s.^[5] A critical examination of a new literary or artistic work is from the 1640s, and review as the name of a periodical publishing such criticism from 1705.^[5] The verb “to view or examine again” is from 1576^[9][4] or the 1570s, “to look back on” from 1751, and “to write a critical review of” from 1781.^[5]

Timeline

• 1441 – a military inspection.^[2]
• 1565 – a revision.^[9][2]
• 1576 – verb, to examine again.^[9]
• 1640s – a critical review.^[5]
• 1654 – judicial review.^[9]
• 1705 – a periodical.^[5]
• 1751 – verb, to look back on.^[5]
• 1781 – verb, to criticize in writing.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A re-examination or reconsideration; a retrospective survey.
2. An inspection for evaluation, especially a formal military inspection.
3. A report or essay giving a critical estimate of a work or performance; a periodical containing such reports.
4. (law) Re-examination of a case by a higher court.
5. A restudying of material, as before an examination.

Verb

1. To look over or examine again; to look back on.
2. To examine critically; to write a critical report on.
3. (law) To re-examine judicially.
4. To inspect formally, as troops.

Word family

• reviewable
• reviewability
• reviewless
• prereview
• reviewal
• unreviewable
• judicial review
• peer review

Related words

• reviewer
• rereview
• view
• revue
• revise
• vision
• interview

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
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's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
9. ^ 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