Etymologically
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revolution

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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
  • 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