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revolutionmore about revolution

revolution

 

  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Revolution  \Rev`o*lu"tion\,  n.  [F.  r['e]volution,  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. 
 
  Note:  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. 
 
  Note:  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 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  revolution 
  n  1:  a  drastic  and  far-reaching  change  in  ways  of  thinking  and 
  behaving;  "the  industrial  revolution  was  also  a  cultural 
  revolution" 
  2:  the  overthrow  of  a  government  by  those  who  are  governed 
  3:  a  complete  turn;  "the  plane  made  three  rotations  before  it 
  crashed"  [syn:  {rotation},  {gyration},  {roll}] 
 
  From  THE  DEVIL'S  DICTIONARY  ((C)1911  Released  April  15  1993)  [devils]: 
 
  REVOLUTION,  n.  In  politics,  an  abrupt  change  in  the  form  of 
  misgovernment.  Specifically,  in  American  history,  the  substitution  of 
  the  rule  of  an  Administration  for  that  of  a  Ministry,  whereby  the 
  welfare  and  happiness  of  the  people  were  advanced  a  full  half-inch. 
  Revolutions  are  usually  accompanied  by  a  considerable  effusion  of 
  blood,  but  are  accounted  worth  it  --  this  appraisement  being  made  by 
  beneficiaries  whose  blood  had  not  the  mischance  to  be  shed.  The 
  French  revolution  is  of  incalculable  value  to  the  Socialist  of  to-day; 
  when  he  pulls  the  string  actuating  its  bones  its  gestures  are 
  inexpressibly  terrifying  to  gory  tyrants  suspected  of  fomenting  law 
  and  order




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