revolution

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌrev.əlˈuː.ʃən/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English revolucioun,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French revolucion (“course, revolution of heavenly bodies”) (13th century),^[2][3] or directly from Late Latin revolūtiō (“a revolving”),^[2][3][5] a noun of action from revolūt-, past participle stem of Latin revolvere “to turn, roll back”,^[2][3][4] the source of revolve.^[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The revolving of a heavenly body in its orbit: about 1385 in Barnhart, in Chaucer's Complaint of Mars,^[3] 1390 in the OED,^[6] the late 14th century in Etymonline, also of the time taken for one circuit.^[2]

Semantic evolution

A change of fortune is from probably before 1400,^[3] a recurrence or cycle of events, as of the seasons, and the turning of a wheel from the early 15th century,^[2][3] and an instance of great change in affairs from the mid-15th century.^[2][7] Turning or moving round a point is from the 1660s,^[2][6] and rotation about an axis from 1710.^[6] The political sense, the overthrow of an established government, is recorded from 1600,^[3] by about 1600 in Etymonline, after French,^[2] and was reinforced in English by its use for the expulsion of James II in 1688, the Glorious Revolution,^[3][2] and later by the French Revolution (1789–95), which at the time caused much greater concern among the British than the American Revolution.^[3] Revolutionary is from 1774,^[3] revolutionize from 1797,^[3] and the green revolution in food production from 1970.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1385 – the revolving of a heavenly body.^[3]
• a. 1400 – a change of fortune.^[3]
• early 15th century – a cycle; the turning of a wheel.^[2]
• mid-15th century – a great change.^[2]
• 1600 – a political overthrow.^[3]
• 1688 – the Glorious Revolution.^[3][2]
• 1710 – rotation about an axis.^[6]
• 1774 – revolutionary.^[3]
• 1970 – green revolution.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The overthrow of a government or social system by those governed, and its replacement by another.
2. A sudden or far-reaching change: the Industrial Revolution.
3. Motion of a body round a point, as of a planet in its orbit, or one complete turn of such motion.
4. A turning about an axis; rotation, or one complete turn.

Word family

• antirevolution
• counterrevolution
• nonrevolution
• prorevolution
• revolutionise
• revolutionist
• postrevolution
• revolutionary

Related words

• revolve
• revolt
• revolver
• evolution
• volume

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 k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press