Revolution
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -uËʃən
Origin
From Middle English reuolucion, from Old French revolution, from Late Latin revolÅ«tiÅnem, accusative singular of revolÅ«tiÅ ("the act of revolving; revolution"), from Latin revolvÅ ("roll back, revolve"); see revolve.
Full definition of revolution
Noun
revolution
(plural revolutions)- A political upheaval in a government or nation state characterized by great change.
- The removal and replacement of a government.
- Rotation: the turning of an object around an axis.
- 1912, P. M. Heldt, The Gasoline Automobile: Its Design and Construction, Volume II: Transmission, Running Gear and Control, The Horseless Age Co. (1913), page 147:The ratio between the speeds of revolution of wheel and disc is substantially equal to the reciprocal of the ratio between the diameter of the wheel and the diameter of the mean contact circle on the disc.
- A rotation: one complete turn of an object during rotation.
- 1864, D. M. Warren, The Common-School Geography, Revised Edition, H. Cowperthwait & Co., page 6:The Earth has two motions: a daily revolution (or turning around) upon its axis, and a yearly course around the sun.
- 1878, George Fleming, A Text-Book of Veterinary Obstetrics, Baillière, Tindall, & Cox, page 123:Numerous cases are recorded which incontestibly prove that during pregnancy, the uterus perform a half or even a complete revolution, on itself, producing torsion of the cervix ...
- In the case of celestial bodies - the traversal of one body through an orbit around another body.
- A sudden, vast change in a situation, a discipline, or the way of thinking and behaving.
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.
Antonyms
- (sudden, vast change) evolution