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Meaning & use

revolution

noun·Academic

Last updated

UK/ˌrevəˈluːʃn/
US/ˌrɛvəˈluːʃn/

Meanings

  1. nouncountable

    An attempt by many people to overthrow a government or system, often with force, and replace it with a new one.

    Grammar: Capitalized for a specific event: the French Revolution.

    Patterns

    • a revolution against something
    • lead a revolution

    The revolution ended two centuries of royal rule.

    Students joined the revolution in the capital.

    Many people were hurt during the revolution.

  2. nouncountable

    A very big and important change in how people live, work, or think.

    Grammar: Often with a field: a revolution in medicine.

    Patterns

    • a revolution in something

    The internet caused a revolution in communication.

    The industrial revolution changed how goods were made.

    There has been a revolution in how we cook.

  3. nouncountabletechnical

    One complete turn of something around a center or axis, or one full orbit.

    Grammar: Used in science and engineering; often abbreviated rev.

    Patterns

    • revolutions per minute

    The wheel makes sixty revolutions per minute.

    One revolution of the Earth around the Sun takes a year.

    The record turned at thirty-three revolutions a minute.

Word forms

pluralrevolutions

Common combinations

start a revolution
The poem helped start a revolution.
industrial revolution
Factories grew during the industrial revolution.
a revolution in
This tool is a revolution in design.
revolutions per minute
The engine runs at three thousand revolutions per minute.
a peaceful revolution
The country had a peaceful revolution without bloodshed.
digital revolution
The digital revolution changed our daily habits.

Synonyms and how they differ

uprising
Uprising describes a revolt that may be smaller and may fail, while a revolution means a lasting change of system.
rebellion
Rebellion is resistance against authority and need not replace the government.
upheaval
Upheaval stresses disruption and disorder more than the new system that follows.
rotation
Rotation means spinning around an axis, while revolution in science means orbiting around another body.

Opposites

stabilityreaction

Word family

revolutionary adjective
involving great change
revolutionary noun
a person who takes part in a revolution
revolutionize verb
to change something completely
revolt verb
to rise against authority
revolutionist noun
someone who supports revolution

Commonly confused: revolution or rotation? revolution or evolution?

revolution vs rotation

Rotation is spinning on your own axis, as the Earth does each day; revolution is moving around another body, as the Earth does around the Sun.

revolution vs evolution

Evolution is slow, gradual change; revolution is sudden or dramatic change.

Practice

The Earth completes one ___ around the Sun in about 365 days.

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