Revolven

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Spun or rotated around a central axis ; travelled in a circular path around a central point ; turned over and over in one's thoughts
2. Archaic past form meaning having spun about a fixed axis ; having circled a central body in an orbit ; having been mulled over again and again
3. Describing something that once turned on its axis ; something that once looped around a center ; a matter that was pondered at length in the mind

Etymology: "Revolven" is an older past participle of "revolve," the same kind of form as "proven," "woven," or "graven," which English once used alongside the regular "-ed" ending. Speakers and writers used it while the verb was still settling into its modern shape, and it faded as "revolved" became standard. "Revolve" comes from Latin "revolvere," made of "re-," meaning "back" or "again," and "volvere," meaning "to roll." Its literal sense was rolling something back on itself, and that physical image carried into English. The verb's movement of turning round a centre still shows that root, even in its figurative uses.