Revolution

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌɹɛv.əˈluː.ʃən/

Definitions

1. A complete overthrow of a government or social system, or a full circular motion around a central point
2. A forceful overturning of an established political or social order, or one complete rotation around a fixed axis
3. The forceful displacement of an existing regime or the completion of one full turn or orbit around a center

Etymology: The original sense of "revolution" had nothing to do with politics. It came from Latin "revolvere," meaning "roll back" or "turn over," and in medieval astronomy it described the regular turning of heavenly bodies around a fixed point. The noun passed through Late Latin "revolutio," meaning the act of revolving, and into Old French as "revolucion," before arriving in Middle English. For centuries, it was a term for cycles and orbits, and the idea of something returning to its starting point stayed embedded in the word. The leap to upheaval came later, when the image of a wheel completing a full turn was applied to governments. A political "revolution" originally meant a return to a former state, a restoration rather than a break with the past. Only later did it come to describe a sudden, forceful overturning of an existing order, so the modern sense is almost the reverse of the one the word first carried.

Synonyms: insurrection, overthrow, revolt

Antonyms: stagnation, status quo