Etymology
From Middle English revolucion, borrowed from Old French revolucion, from Late Latin revolūtiōnem, accusative singular of revolūtiō (the act of revolving; revolution), from Latin revolvō (roll back, revolve).
Noun
revolution (countable and uncountable, plural revolutions)
- A political upheaval in a government or state characterized by great change.
- It would take a revolution in order for a demurrage currency to be implemented nationwide, even in countries like Germany where plenty of city-wide currencies are doing this already.
- The removal and replacement of a government, especially by sudden violent action.
- Rotation: the turning of an object around an axis, one complete turn of an object during rotation.
- In the case of celestial bodies, the traversal of one body along an orbit around another body.
- A sudden, vast change in a situation, a discipline, or the way of thinking and behaving.
- A round of periodic changes, such as between the seasons of the year.
- Consideration of an idea; the act of revolving something in the mind.
Usage notes
Astronomers today do not use revolution to refer to the turning of an object about an axis: they use rotation for that, and revolution only for the traversal of a body through an orbit (which also happens around some axis). (This may be somewhat customary, however, strictly speaking, using either word for either process would not be incorrect.)
Derived terms
- agricultural revolution
- counter-revolution
- democratic revolution
- French Revolution
- green revolution
- Industrial Revolution
- information revolution
- revolutionary
- revolutionize
- Russian Revolution
- sexual revolution
Related terms
- revolve
Credits
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