Involvement

How to spell involvement

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce involvement

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does involvement mean?

1. nounThe fact or degree of taking part in something, or of being connected with it.

Involvement in a sentence

• Her involvement in the charity raised thousands of pounds.

• The report questioned the company's involvement in the scandal.

Where does involvement come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin verb volvere, which literally meant 'to roll' or 'to turn around'. Adding the prefix in- gave involvere, meaning 'to roll into', 'to wrap up', or 'to envelop', the same image preserved in 'envelope' and 'evolve', which also descend from volvere. English borrowed the verb 'involve' through Old French and Latin during the late 1300s, at first in the literal sense of wrapping or enfolding, and only later in the figurative sense of being caught up or entangled in an affair. The abstract noun 'involvement', formed by adding the French-derived suffix -ment, appeared much later, around the early 1700s, to name the state of being involved. The hidden spelling trap is the silent vowel pattern in '-volve-' and the single 'l', since the root is volv-, not 'voll-'.

How the word is built

• in- (in, into)
• volve (from Latin volvere: to roll)
• -ment (noun suffix denoting result or state)