Etymologically
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volume

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈvɒl.juːm/, US /ˈvɑːl.juːm/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English volum,[2][3] borrowed from Old French volume (“scroll, book; size”),[4][5] and directly from Latin volūmen (“roll of writing, coil”),[4][5][3] literally “that which is rolled”,[4] from volvere (“to turn, roll”),[4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“to turn, revolve”).[4][3] Latin volvere is cognate with Gothic -walwjan and Old English wealwian “to roll”.[5] It is related to revolve and voluble.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A roll of parchment containing writing, a large book: before 1382, in the Wycliffe Bible.[5][6] A bound book is from about 1380 in the OED[6] and the late 14th century in Etymonline.[4]

Semantic evolution

Ancient books were rolled documents, and the word kept that historical sense.[4][6] One book of a set is from 1523, from that sense in French.[5][4][6] The bulk or size of a book is from 1530,[5] and following the French word this led to “a rounded solid mass” (1620s) and “bulk, amount, quantity” (1621 in Barnhart, the 1640s in Etymonline).[4][5] Speak volumes is from 1803.[6] In science, the size of a thing in three dimensions is by 1791.[4] Loudness or amount of sound is first found in Byron (1822),[5] and in radio use the volume control appears in the 1920s.[4] The verb, “to pour out in volumes”, is from 1815.[6][2]

Timeline

  • before 1382 – a roll; a book.[5][6]
  • 1523 – one book of a set.[5][6]
  • 1530 – the size of a book.[5]
  • 1621 – bulk, quantity.[5]
  • 1791 – size in three dimensions.[4]
  • 1803 – speak volumes.[6]
  • 1815 – verb.[6][2]
  • 1822 – loudness.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A book, especially one of a set.
  2. A series of issues of a periodical, usually for one year.
  3. The amount of space occupied by something in three dimensions.
  4. An amount or quantity: the volume of traffic.
  5. The loudness of a sound.
  6. (computing) A storage unit such as a disk.

Word family

  • volumed
  • multivolume
  • volumeter
  • volumetric
  • voluminous
  • atomic volume
  • molar volume
  • specific volume
  • revolve
  • voluble
  • vault
  • wallow

Usage notes

In Devon dialect vellum, a form of volume, meant “a large quantity”.[7]

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 Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)