The word revolution originally meant cyclical return, not radical change

Evidence

Whereas before the term referred to a return to a prior state of affairs after a disturbance or deviation, it has ever since implied a relatively rapid and very extensive change in regnant ideas, institutions, practices, or social relationships that results in something historically new. — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 21

Categorization

• DEFINE: Useful etymology and semantic shift of ‘revolution’ — a memorable, tweetable fact.
• CANDY: A genuinely light, conversational fact: revolutions used to mean going around in circles.
• XREF: connects to: The word revolution has been devalued to mean any trivial change or mere coup — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting…, 1463; The same Latin phrase flipped meaning across eras due to cultural change — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 243; Revolution definitions should decompose into components present by definition — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 957

Broader Connections

• The word revolution has been devalued to mean any trivial change or mere coup #qualifies (0.75) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1463