Etymograph

English

revolution

Revolution comes from Old French revolucion ‘passage’, from Late Latin revolūtiō ‘the act of revolving’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *welH- ‘to roll, to undulate’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welH-1‘to roll’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wolwō1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvolvō1‘roll’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErevolvō2‘roll back’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CErevolūtiō2‘the act of revolving’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400revolucion2‘passage’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500revolucion2
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1837revolution2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin revolvo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English revolution
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, George Sand, Mauprat: “For a long time the dormouse and polecat had…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welH-Wiktionary, Latin revolvo‘to roll’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wolwōWiktionary, Latin revolvoreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvolvōWiktionary, Latin revolvo‘roll’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErevolvōWiktionary, English revolution‘roll back’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CErevolūtiōWiktionary, English revolution‘the act of revolving’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400revolucionWiktionary, English revolution‘passage’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500revolucionWiktionary, English revolution
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1837revolutionWiktionary, English revolution. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, George Sand, Mauprat: “For a long time the dormouse and polecat had…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *welH- ‘to roll, to undulate’

well, walk, wall, valve, vulgar, waltz, helix, divulge, vagrant, wale, gauche, vulgate, iliac, ilium, valvular, valise, 74 more

through Proto-Italic *wolwō

devolve, convolutional, 43 more

through Latin volvō ‘roll’

volume, involve, vault, evolve, vulva, voluminous, convoluted, devolution, voluble, convolution, involution, 45 more

Today it means

noun A political upheaval in a government or state characterized by great change.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “revolution”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin revolvo. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *welH- / revolution

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