Rev`o*lu"tion (?), n. [F.
révolution, 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.
&fist; 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.
&fist; 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.
Rev`o*lu"tion (?), n. [F.
révolution, 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.
&fist; 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.
&fist; 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.
