révolution

Forms

révolution f (plural révolutions)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin revolūtiō (“return; unrolling; cycle”), a word used by Augustine for the cycle of returning souls and in Medieval Latin for a star's periodic return (1086).^[2][3][4][5] The Latin noun comes from revolūtum, the supine of Latin revolvō (“to roll back, bring back”), a prefixed form of volvō (“to roll, turn”).^[2][6] It belongs to the same family as révolu and volute.^[2] From the 17th century the political sense was influenced by English revolution.^[2]

Compare Italian rivoluzione and Spanish revolución.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Dialogues de saint Grégoire, dated about 1190 by Rey and to the early 13th century by the TLFi, as a term of astronomy: the periodic return of a heavenly body to a point of its orbit (par assidueies revolutions).^[2][3][8]

Semantic evolution

From the 13th century it also meant the completion of a period of time (1267), and the turn of a thread or knot (1314, Henri de Mondeville).^[3][2] The time a body takes to travel its orbit is recorded by Furetière in 1690; in geometry it is a complete rotation about an axis (1727, Fontenelle), whence surface de révolution (1799, Monge).^[3][2]

The word entered everyday use through the sense of a sudden upheaval brought by fate (1559, Amyot), which lost the idea of return.^[2][3] In the early 17th century, partly under English influence, it came to mean a violent change of government: revolutions des Estats (about 1615, Nicolas Pasquier), révolution d'État “coup d'état” (1636, Monet), and the word alone by 1680.^[3][2][4] It was applied to the English revolutions of the 17th century and to American independence, and, from 1789 to the events in France, la Révolution.^[2][3] Its derivatives date from those years: révolutionnaire (1789), contre-révolution (1790, Danton) and révolutionner (1793).^[4]

Later phrases include révolution de palais (1831, Lamennais), révolution industrielle (1839, Comte), révolution sexuelle (1934) and révolution culturelle (1966), adapted from a Chinese expression.^[3][2] In Quebec la Révolution tranquille (1960, in an editorial of Le Devoir) names the deep changes in Quebec society from the early 1960s.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1190 – The astronomical sense, in the Dialogues de saint Grégoire.^[2][4]
• 1267 – The completion of a period of time.^[3]
• 1314 – A turn of thread, in Henri de Mondeville.^[3]
• 1559 – “Upheaval”, in Amyot.^[3]
• c. 1615 – Revolutions des Estats, in Nicolas Pasquier.^[3]
• 1636 – Révolution d'État, in Monet.^[3][4]
• 1727 – The geometrical sense, in Fontenelle.^[3]
• 1789 – La révolution, révolution française; the derivative révolutionnaire.^[3][4]
• 1831 – Révolution de palais, in Lamennais.^[3]
• 1839 – Révolution industrielle, in Comte.^[3]
• 1934 – Révolution sexuelle.^[3]
• 1960 – Révolution tranquille, in Le Devoir.^[2]
• 1966 – Révolution culturelle.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (astronomy) The movement of a heavenly body around its orbit; the time it takes.^[9][3]
2. (geometry, mechanics) A complete rotation about an axis: surface de révolution, escalier à double révolution.^[9][3]
3. A sudden and far-reaching change in the social or moral order; complete transformation: la révolution industrielle, la révolution sexuelle.^[9][3]
4. The overthrow of a political regime by force, with deep changes in society; a revolution: faire la révolution.^[9][1]
5. La Révolution: the French Revolution of 1789.^[9][2]
6. Révolution de palais: a plot among those close to power.^[9][3]
7. (familiar) Commotion, excitement: tout le quartier est en révolution.^[9]
8. (obsolete) A coup d'état.^[9][3]

Word family

• révolutionnaire
• révolutionner
• contre-révolution

Related words

• révolte
• évolution
• révolu
• volute
• Latin revolvō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 364b
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert