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"revolution" in seven languages

Meaningrevolution

Spanish

revolución

/reboluˈθjon/

fem.learned

French

révolution

/ʁevɔlysjɔ̃/

fem.learned

Italian

rivoluzione

/rivolutˈtsjone/

fem.learned

Portuguese

revolução

/hevoluˈsɐ̃w/

fem.learned

Romanian

revoluție

/revoˈlutsie/

fem.learned

Catalan

revolució

/rəbulusiˈo/

fem.learned

English

revolution

/ɹɛvəˈluʃən/

from Latin/French · Old French revolucion / Latin REVOLŪTIŌ

English → ItalianrevolutionrivoluzioneCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

REVOLŪTIŌNEM‘a turning round’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

From REVOLVERE 'to roll back': the word first described the heavens turning (Copernicus wrote De revolutionibus) before it meant turning a state upside down.

English relatives: revolve, revolver, evolution, volume

Sound laws at work

-TIŌNEM: learned -ción, inherited -zón

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In a sentence

  • esLa Revolución francesa empezó en 1789.
  • frLa Révolution française a commencé en 1789.
  • itLa Rivoluzione francese iniziò nel 1789.
  • ptA Revolução Francesa começou em 1789.
  • roRevoluția franceză a început în 1789.
  • caLa Revolució Francesa va començar el 1789.
  • enThe French Revolution began in 1789.

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