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revolution
6 dictionary results for: Revolution
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
rev·o·lu·tion 
[rev-uh-loo-shuhn] Pronunciation Key
[rev-uh-loo-shuhn] Pronunciation Key –noun
| 1. | an overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed. |
| 2. | Sociology. a radical and pervasive change in society and the social structure, esp. one made suddenly and often accompanied by violence. Compare social evolution. |
| 3. | a sudden, complete or marked change in something: the present revolution in church architecture. |
| 4. | a procedure or course, as if in a circuit, back to a starting point. |
| 5. | a single turn of this kind. |
| 6. | Mechanics.
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| 7. | Astronomy.
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| 8. | a round or cycle of events in time or a recurring period of time. |
| 9. | Geology. a time of worldwide orogeny and mountain-building. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| rev·o·lu·tion
(rěv'ə-lōō'shən) Pronunciation Key
n.
[Middle English revolucioun, from Old French revolution, from Late Latin revolūtiō, revolūtiōn-, from Latin revolūtus, past participle of revolvere, to turn over; see revolve.] |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
revolution
revolution
1390, originally of celestial bodies, from O.Fr. revolution, from L.L. revolutionem (nom. revolutio) "a revolving," from L. revolutus, pp. of revolvere "turn, roll back" (see revolve). General sense of "instance of great change in affairs" is recorded from c.1450. Political meaning first recorded 1600, derived from French, and was especially applied to the expulsion of the Stuart dynasty under James II in 1688 and transfer of sovereignty to William and Mary. Revolutionary as a noun is first attested 1850, from the adjective. Revolutionize "to change a thing completely and fundamentally" is first recorded 1799.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| revolution | |
noun | |
| 1. | a drastic and far-reaching change in ways of thinking and behaving; "the industrial revolution was also a cultural revolution" |
| 2. | the overthrow of a government by those who are governed |
| 3. | a single complete turn (axial or orbital); "the plane made three rotations before it crashed"; "the revolution of the earth about the sun takes one year" [syn: rotation] |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
revolution
(rěv'ə-l 'shən) Pronunciation Key
Our Living Language : In everyday speech revolution and rotation are often used as synonyms, but in science they are not synonyms and have distinct meanings. The difference between the two terms lies in the location of the central axis that the object turns about. If the axis is outside the body itself—that is, if the object is orbiting about another object—then one complete orbit is called a revolution. But if the object is turning about an axis that passes through itself, then one complete cycle is called a rotation. This difference is often summed up in the statement "Earth rotates on its axis and revolves around the Sun." |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Revolution
Rev`o*lu"tion\, n. [F. r['e]volution, L. revolutio. See Revolve.]1. The act of revolving, or turning round on an axis or a center; the motion of a body round a fixed point or line; rotation; as, the revolution of a wheel, of a top, of the earth on its axis, etc. 2. Return to a point before occupied, or to a point relatively the same; a rolling back; return; as, revolution in an ellipse or spiral. That fear Comes thundering back, with dreadful revolution, On my defenseless head. --Milton. 3. The space measured by the regular return of a revolving body; the period made by the regular recurrence of a measure of time, or by a succession of similar events. "The short revolution of a day." --Dryden. 4. (Astron.) The motion of any body, as a planet or satellite, in a curved line or orbit, until it returns to the same point again, or to a point relatively the same; -- designated as the annual, anomalistic, nodical, sidereal, or tropical revolution, according as the point of return or completion has a fixed relation to the year, the anomaly, the nodes, the stars, or the tropics; as, the revolution of the earth about the sun; the revolution of the moon about the earth. Note: The term is sometimes applied in astronomy to the motion of a single body, as a planet, about its own axis, but this motion is usually called rotation. 5. (Geom.) The motion of a point, line, or surface about a point or line as its center or axis, in such a manner that a moving point generates a curve, a moving line a surface (called a surface of revolution), and a moving surface a solid (called a solid of revolution); as, the revolution of a right-angled triangle about one of its sides generates a cone; the revolution of a semicircle about the diameter generates a sphere. 6. A total or radical change; as, a revolution in one's circumstances or way of living. The ability . . . of the great philosopher speedily produced a complete revolution throughout the department. --Macaulay. 7. (Politics) A fundamental change in political organization, or in a government or constitution; the overthrow or renunciation of one government, and the substitution of another, by the governed. The violence of revolutions is generally proportioned to the degree of the maladministration which has produced them. --Macaulay. Note: When used without qualifying terms, the word is often applied specifically, by way of eminence, to: (a) The English Revolution in 1689, when William of Orange and Mary became the reigning sovereigns, in place of James II. (b) The American Revolution, beginning in 1775, by which the English colonies, since known as the United States, secured their independence. (c) The revolution in France in 1789, commonly called the French Revolution, the subsequent revolutions in that country being designated by their dates, as the Revolution of 1830, of 1848, etc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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