representation English · revision 5851

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1400|origins=la repraesentatio}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˌrep.rɪ.zenˈteɪ.ʃən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English representacioun, [[bor|fro|representacion]] and directly [[bor|la|repraesentātiō|t=a bringing before one, a showing]] (accusative repraesentationem),^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) a noun of action from the past participle stem of [[m|la|repraesentāre|t=to show, exhibit, display]] (see [[represent]]).^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An image or likeness: about 1400 in Etymonline, about 1425 in the OED.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A material image or figure is from about 1477, and expressing something by a symbol from 1526.^(OED 1989) The performance of a play is from 1589.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) Presenting something to the mind or imagination is from the 1640s,^(Etymonline) and a statement of facts made to influence opinion, often a protest, from the 1670s.^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) The legislative sense, the fact of being represented by chosen delegates, is by 1769, hence the system by which communities have a voice in the making of their laws.^(Etymonline) In mathematics a homomorphism from an abstract group to another structure is from 1897.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1400 – an image, likeness.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1526 – symbolic expression.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1589 – a performance of a play.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1640s – presentation to the mind.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1670s – a statement of facts, a protest.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1769 – representation by delegates.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1897 – in mathematics.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act of representing, or the state of being represented, especially in a [[legislature]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Something that represents another thing, such as a picture or [[symbol]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(often plural)'' A statement of facts or arguments, especially a formal protest.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A [[performance]] or production of a play.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[representational]]

+ * [[representationally]]

+ * [[nonrepresentation]]

+ * [[overrepresentation]]

+ * [[underrepresentation]]

+ * [[proportional representation]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[represent]]

+ * [[representative]]

+ * [[present]]

+ * [[presentation]]

+ * [[misrepresentation]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}