revolution

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

I

n. uprising (see revolution); rotation; cycle. See circuit.

II

Radical change

Nouns

1. revolution, radical or sweeping change, clean sweep, foquismo; coup, coup d'état, uprising, counterrevolution, shakeup, breakup, upset, overthrow, putsch, reversal, debacle, cataclysm, upheaval, groundswell, convulsion, revulsion. See destruction.

2. insurrection, rebellion, revolt, insurgence, insurgency, mutiny; retaliation; riot, uprising, disorder, sabotage; civil disobedience or disorder, strike, boycott, direct action; demonstration. See resistance, warfare.

3. revolutionary, rabblerouser, rebel, guerrilla, incendiary, young Turk, freedom fighter, urban guerrilla; anarchist, destructionist; Intifada; red, Bolshevik, Jacobin, Fenian, Luddite, etc.; fifth column, popular front; cell, foco.

Verbs

1. revolutionize, change radically, remodel, recast, refashion, reform, change the face of, break with the past.

2. rebel, revolt. Slang, kick over the traces.

Adjectives — revolutionary, anarchic, rebellious, insurgent, radical, antiestablishment, revulsionary, cataclysmic; Bolshevist, Fenian; card-carrying.

Phrases — every revolution was first a thought in one man's mind; rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.

Quotations — A desperate disease requires a dangerous remedy (Guy Fawkes), When people contend for their liberty, they seldom get anything by their victory but new masters (Lord Halifax), Après nous le déluge (Mme. de Pompadour), A little rebellion now and then is a good thing (Thomas Jefferson), Anarchism is a game at which the police can beat you (G. B. Shaw), Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable ( J. F. Kennedy), What is a rebel? A man who says no (Albert Camus), A great revolution is never the fault of the people, but of the government (Goethe), Revolution is the proper occupation of the masses (Mao Zedong), A revolution is like a forest fire. It burns everything in its path (Malcolm X).

Antonyms, see inactivity, permanence.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [A complete motion about an axis]

Syn. rotation, spin, turn, revolving, circuit, orbit, round, whirl, gyration, circumvolution, cycle, roll, reel, twirl, swirl, pirouette.

2. [An armed uprising]

Syn. revolt, rebellion, uprising, mutiny, insurrection, anarchy, coup, coup d'état, destruction, overturn, upset, overthrow, reversal, rising, riot, outbreak, violence, bloodshed, turbulence, insubordination, disturbance, reformation, plot, cabal, junta, putsch, underground activity, guerrilla activity, unrest, upheaval, tumult, disorder, foment, turmoil, uproar, row, strife, strike, subversion, breakup, secession, convulsion, throe; see also sense 3.

Ant. law*, order, control.

Important revolutions include: Protectorate, 1653, Glorious Revolution, 1688, England; Revolutionary War, American Revolution, 1775, United States; French Revolution, 1789; War of Independence, 1821, Greece; Polish Revolt Against Russia, 1830, Poland; Rise of the Young Turks, 1908; Overthrow of the Manchus, 1911, China; Mexican Revolution, 1911; Russian Revolution, October Revolution, 1917; Rise of the German Republic, 1918; March on Rome of Fascisti, 1920, Italy; Overthrow of Alphonso XIII, 1931, Spain; Nazi Seizure of Government, 1933, Germany; Chinese Communist Revolution, 1949; Revolt Against the Netherlands, 1949, Indonesia; Revolt of the French Indo-Chinese States, 1954; Cuban Revolution, 1959; Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, 1966, China; Iranian Revolution, 1979; Opening of the Berlin Wall, 1989; Dissolution of the Soviet Union, 1991; Velvet Revolution, 1993, Czechoslovakia.

3. [A reversal]

Syn. change, radical change, metamorphosis, substitution, end of an era, epoch, reconstruction, overturn, upset, overthrow, debacle, cataclysm, revolution in ideas, political upheaval, disintegration, falling apart; see also sense 2; change 2 .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

1. rebellion uprising, mutiny, revolt, insubordination, insurrection, outbreak, uproar, riot, anarchy, coup, coup d'etat, takeover, overthrow, unrest, turmoil. ''A phoenix rising like a flame from the bodies of the wretched. —Luis Cernuda. ''An abrupt change in the form of misgovern-ment. —Ambrose Bierce. ''A thought in one man s mind. —Ralph Waldo Emerson.

2. rotation circle, orbit, lap, circuit, cycle, spin.

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun 1. Circular movement around a point or about an axis: circuit, circulation, circumvolution, gyration, rotation, turn, wheel, whirl. See GEOMETRY, REPETITION. 2. Organized opposition intended to change or overthrow existing authority: insurgence, insurgency, insurrection, mutiny, rebellion, revolt, sedition, uprising. See RESIST. 3. A momentous or sweeping change: cataclysm, convulsion, upheaval. See CHANGE.