Revolution

How to spell revolution

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce revolution

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does revolution mean?

1. nounA sudden, complete overthrow of a government or social order, or any far-reaching change.
2. nounA single complete turn of an object around its centre or orbit.

Revolution in a sentence

• The French revolution overturned the monarchy and reshaped the country.

• The earth completes one revolution around the sun every year.

• The arrival of the smartphone caused a revolution in how people work and shop.

• The engine measures each revolution of the crankshaft to calculate speed.

Where does revolution come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb revolvere, which combined re-, meaning 'back' or 'again', with volvere, meaning 'to roll' or 'to turn'. The derived noun revolutio literally meant a 'rolling back' or a 'turning round', and in late Latin it was used by astronomers for the regular circling of the heavenly bodies. English took the word in through Old French during the 1300s, and at first it kept this astronomical sense of one body completing a turn around another. Only later, around the 1600s, did it acquire the political meaning of a great overturning of the established order, the idea being that the wheel of state had turned right round. The same volvere root still turns up in everyday relatives such as 'revolve', 'evolve' and 'involve', which is a handy reminder that the tricky middle of revolution is spelled with that 'volu' rolling sound.

How the word is built

• re- (back, again)
• volu(t) (from volvere: to roll, to turn)
• -tion (noun-forming suffix)