English
revel
Revel comes from Old French revel, from Latin rebello ‘to rebel’, and ultimately from Old Latin duellum.
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEduellum1
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbellum1‘war’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbellō2‘to wage war’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErebello3‘to rebel’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400revel3
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500revelen3‘to revel’
- Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611revel3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin bello
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin rebello
- 3 Wiktionary, English revel
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “Our revels now are ended.”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEduellumWiktionary, Latin bello
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbellumWiktionary, Latin bello‘war’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbellōWiktionary, Latin rebello‘to wage war’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErebelloWiktionary, English revel‘to rebel’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400revelWiktionary, English revel
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500revelenWiktionary, English revel‘to revel’
- Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611revelWiktionary, English revel. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “Our revels now are ended.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- ‘to fit’
down, town, tool, teen, dynamic, dynasty, tow, dun, dynamo, dynastic, tine, taw, 91 more
through Proto-Italic *dwenos ‘good’
bona, benefice, beaucoup, beauteous, 34 more
through Archaic Latin duenos
ben, bonus, beneficial, optimal, bonnie, optimism, boon, beneficiary, bene, bonny, bonbon, 34 more
through Old Latin *duenelos
beautiful, beauty, boo, beau, beal, bello, bauble, 16 more
through Old Latin duellum
through Latin bellum ‘war’
through Latin bellō ‘to wage war’
through Latin rebello ‘to rebel’
through Middle English revelen ‘to revel’
Another origin of revel
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvellere‘to pluck, pull’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErevellere
- Englishtodayrevel
Today it means
noun An instance of merrymaking; a celebration.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “revel”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin bello, Latin rebello. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Old Latin duellum / revel