revolução

Forms

revolução f (plural revoluções)^[1] The first records, of the 15th century, are the plurals revoluções and reuolucoes.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin revolūtiō (“a rolling back; revolving”), taken by a semi-learned route.^[2][1][3] The Latin noun is formed from revolvō (“to roll back”) with the suffix -tiō.^[2][1] Saint Augustine used it for “return” and for the cycle of souls, and in the Middle Ages it meant the periodic return of a star to its starting point.^[4]

The same word is Galician revolución, Spanish revolución, Catalan revolució, French révolution and Italian rivoluzione.^[1]

The verb is made of re- (“back, again”) and volvō (“to roll”).^[5][1] De Vaan traces the simple verb to Proto-Indo-European *uel-u- (“to wind”).^[6]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau in 1712 already gives two senses side by side: turbulent times, revolts and disturbances in the state, and the movement of a thing that turns, as in the revolution of the stars, quoting António Vieira's essa Revoluçaõ dos Ceos.^[7] Morais in 1813 puts the orbit of a planet first, and adds great natural upheavals such as earthquakes, the “revolution of humours” in the body, and figuratively the changes in the form and order of states.^[8] The old Caldas Aulete uses the word above all for a memorable political rising that sets up a lasting order, giving as examples the French Revolution, the Portuguese revolution of 1820 and the Brazilian one of 1930.^[9] Silva Bastos in 1912 and Houaiss record a figurative sense “disgust, repugnance”, a stomach “turning over”.^[10][2]

Timeline

• 15th century – first records, as revoluções and reuolucoes.^[2]
• 1712 – Bluteau gives the senses “political disturbance” and “revolution of the stars”.^[7]
• 1808 – revolução in a Portuguese newspaper report of a speech by Sheridan.^[11]
• 1813 – Morais lists the astronomical, natural, medical and political senses.^[8]
• 1815 – Revolução in a private letter.^[12]
• 1912 – Silva Bastos records the figurative sense “indignation, repulsion”.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act or effect of revolutionizing (revolucionar), of bringing about a profound change.^[2][1]
2. (astronomy) The orbital movement of a heavenly body around another, its return to a point of its own orbit, and the time it takes.^[2][13][1]
3. (geometry, mechanics) A full rotation around an axis or a point; a turn.^[2][13][1]
4. A great and sudden transformation of any kind: a revolução digital.^[2][14][1]
5. (politics) A revolt against an established power, an insurrection.^[2][14][1]
6. (politics) A set of events that overthrow a regime and bring deep political, economic and social changes: a Revolução dos Cravos.^[2][14][1]
7. (geology) A natural process that transforms the surface or structure of the Earth.^[2]
8. (figurative) Agitation, ferment, disorder.^[2][1]
9. (figurative) disgust, nausea.^[2][1]

Related words

• revolver
• revolta
• volver
• Latin revolvō
• Spanish revolución

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. revolução
3. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. revolução
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. révolution
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. revoluçaõ
8. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 29
9. ^ Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. revolução
10. ^ a b Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. revolução
11. ^ NEHiLP – Núcleo de Apoio à Pesquisa em Etimologia e História da Língua Portuguesa, Universidade de São Paulo, DELPo: Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa (online database), p. s.v. revolução
12. ^ CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. revolução
13. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. revolução
14. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. revolução