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Brit. /r
v
lt/, U.S. /rvolt/, /rivolt/ Forms: 15 reuolte, 15 revolte, 16 revault, 15-16 reuolt, 15- revolt; Sc. pre-17 revoult, pre-17 rewolt, pre-17 rewoult, pre-17 revollt, pre-17 17- revolt. [< Middle French, French révolter to turn (1414 as revoultrer, earliest in reflexive use), to rebel (against established authority) (1502), (reflexive) to change sides, to change allegiance, to defect (a1526), (reflexive) to turn away (from a religion, etc.), to turn apostate (1538), (in passive) to feel revulsion or disgust (1630) < Italian rivoltare to rebel (13th cent., used reflexively), to turn back, turn round (mid 14th cent., used transitively and reflexively), to cause (someone) to rebel (14th cent.), to cause disgust (a1577), intensive formation < rivolgere to turn again, turn back, to turn round (see REVOLVE v.). Compare Catalan revoltar (14th cent.), Portuguese revoltar (15th cent.).
N.E.D. (1908) gives the pronunciation as (r
v
u·lt, rv
·lt) /r
v
lt/, /rv
lt/.]
1 intr. To draw back or refrain from (one's duty, a custom, an undertaking, etc.). Obs.
1540 T. WYATT Let. in
Eng. Stud. (1977)
58 402 The Kyng my masters subiectes were by hym solicitid to revolte from theire duty.
1568 T. HACKET tr. A. Thevet
New Found Worlde lxxi. f. 115
v, They began to reuolte from their former vse, taking this rude people and vsing them lyke slaues.
1570 J. FOXE tr. Pope Gregory I
Epist. in
Actes & Monuments (rev. ed.) I. 155/2 It is better not to take good things in hand, than after they be begune to thinke to reuolte backe from the same againe.
1610 G. CARLETON Iurisdict. 171 The Pope..commanded the Archbishop to yeeld to the King without exception: whereupon hee did so, but afterward reuolted from that promise.
2. a. intr. Originally: to cast off or change allegiance or subjection. In later use esp.: to rise in rebellion against a ruler or established authority; to rebel. Also fig.
1548 T. COOPER Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.),
Deficio, to go from one capitayne to an other, to reuolte.
1550 T. NICOLLS tr. Thucydides
Hist. Peloponnesian War V. iii. f. cxxx, They..greatelye feared leste their allyes..shuld reuolte and rebelle.
1573 P. MOORE Almanack E iv b, Some noble men shall intende to reuolt.
a1616 SHAKESPEARE Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623)
III. ii. 59 You are already loues firme votary, And cannot soone reuolt, and change your minde.
1651 T. HOBBES Leviathan II. xxviii 163 Such as are they, that having been by their own act Subjects, deliberately revolting, deny the Soveraign Power.
1727 D. DEFOE Syst. Magick I. iii. 73 Nor are the People we come to speak for inclin'd to revolt or rebel.
1743 J. BULKELEY &
J. CUMMINS Voy. to South-seas 183 If they should revolt at this Juncture, we shall stand a very bad Chance.
1836 C. THIRLWALL Hist. Greece II. xiv. 210 Aristagoras opened these singular credentials, and read an invitation to revolt.
1871 B. JOWETT tr. Plato
Dialogues IV. 41 The youth revolted and refused to receive their own fathers.
1934 P. E. B
AKER Negro-white Adjustment 162 During this same post-war period, students revolted in many other American colleges.
1954 E. J. H
AMMER Struggle for Indochina iii. 71 Finding all other channels closed to them except that of force, they followed the leaders who urged them to revolt.
1995 New Statesman & Society 24 Nov. 24/3 The electorate revolted, and..the conservative National Party was returned to power in a landslide.
b. intr. To withdraw allegiance or assent from (a ruler, a kingdom, a person's rule, a system, etc.). Now rare.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VII f. xviij, This lord Cordes, which vntruly reuolted from duke Charles of Burgoyne.
1560 J. DAUS tr. J. Sleidane
Commentaries f. cccclxvj, He sollicited the Emperour to make it frustrate: For he sawe how many reuolted daily from his kingdome.
1610 P. HOLLAND tr. W. Camden
Brit. I. 587 After he had revolted..from King Henry the Third.
1667 MILTON Paradise Lost VI. 740, [I] shall soon..rid heav'n of these rebell'd..That from thy just obedience could revolt.
a1727 I. NEWTON Short. Chron. 1st Memory in
Chronol. Anc. Kingdoms Amended (1728) 36 The Western nations..revolt from the Assyrians.
1768 Swift's Hen. I in Swift
Wks. IV. 285 The principal towns in Flanders revolted from him.
1829 Gospel Advocate 28 Nov. 399/2 The whole of the Southern Baptist associations..came out and revolted from all these monied schemes of the day.
1874 J. R. GREEN Short Hist. Eng. People vii. §8 430 The national spirit of France revolted more and more from the rule of Spain.
1952 Mississippi Valley Hist. Rev. 39 260 Fate..used George III as a tool..to lead the American colonies to revolt from England.
c. intr. To go over to (unto) (a rival power, another's service, etc.). Also with on (a person's side) Now rare.
1549 W. THOMAS Hist. Italie f. 136, Andrea Doria, generall of the frenche kynges armie by sea, reuolted..to the seruice of the emperour.
1597 SHAKESPEARE Richard II II. ii. 89 The commons they are colde, And will (I feare) reuolt on Herefords side.
1605 W. CAMDEN Remaines I. 202 Iohn.falsely and vnnaturally revolted vnto the French king.
1665 T. MANLEY tr. H. Grotius
De Rebus Belgicis 224 The hopes of great plunder allured many to revolt to the Enemy.
1692 J. WASHINGTON tr. Milton
Def. People in Milton
Wks. (1851) VIII. 232 To revolt to the common Enemy in their hearts is the worst sort of absence.
1716 J. P
ERRY State of Russia 25 General Mazeppa..promised to revolt to him.
a1777 S. FOOTE Tragedy a-la-mode in T. Wilkinson
Wandering Patentee (1795) 287 Unless his daughter Lyddy does Lightening, he'll revolt to the other house.
a1811 R. CUMBERLAND Sybil IV, in
Posthumous Dramatick Wks. (1813) II. 45 An armed band Of citizens, revolting to the army Of your dethroned tyrant.
1886 Dict. National Biogr. VIII. 159/2 Many who heretofore were thought loyal..had either turned neuter or had wholly revolted to them.
1906 W. F. BUTLER Lombard Communes x. 286 Jacopo da Carrara..had revolted to the side of the Marquis.
1963 P. J. A
LEXANDER Anc. World to A.D. 300 viii. 233 The Senate had granted to his soldiers the plunder of those cities in Epirus which had revolted to Perseus.
d. intr. In perfect tenses formed with to be. To have withdrawn allegiance; to have rebelled. Chiefly with from. Obs. (arch. in later use).
1550 T. NICOLLS tr. Thucydides
Hist. Peloponnesian War IV. x. f. cxiii
v, Perdiccas & the other Thraciens that were reuolted & turned against the Athenians.
1574 A. GOLDING tr. A. Marlorat
Catholike Expos. Reuelation 37 The mynd of man, whych is reuolted from God, is miserable or wretched.
a1618 W. RALEIGH Life & Death Mahomet (1637) 128 Valentia was revolted from his obedience.
1678 N. LEE Mithridates V. ii. 77 Pompey the Great is entred; And those who took your part, are all revolted.
1735 D. FORBES Thoughts Conc. Relig. 49 He is guilty of high-treason against the God of Nature,..he is revolted from him.
1799 W. DALRYMPLE Solomon's Ethics iv. 29 The most dreadful and horrid condition of such as are revolted from the holiness and happiness of heaven.
1853 L. C
OLEMAN Hist. Geogr. of Bible (new ed.) 456 At this time the cities of the plain were revolted from Chedorlaomer, to whom they had been subject 12 years.
1897 Amer. Antiquarian 19 57 After Sargon's death, Hezekiah was revolted from Assyria.
e. intr. To rebel against (a person or thing).
1562 J. SHUTE tr. in
Two Comm. Turcks II. f. 29, In Spaine the citie of Burcelona [
sic] in the contrey of Catalonia reuolted [It.
rebellatosi] against their prince.
1572 J. LESLIE Treat. Treasons against Q. Elizabeth f. 115
v, Whervpon ensewed the subornation of ye whole Nobilitie of Scotl. to reuolt against their Soueraigne.
1614 E. G
RIMESTON tr. P. Matthieu
Hist. Lewis XI IV. 124 The Emperour Charlemaine..declared himselfe enemy to Didier, King of the Lombardes, who had reuolted against the Pope.
1694 London Gaz. No. 2997/2, The Ceriffe, or King of Mecca,..had revolted against the Ottoman Government.
1709 I. L
ITTLEBURY tr. Herodotus
Hist. I.
II. 233 All the Friends of those that had perish'd, openly revolted against him.
1780 Monthly Rev. May 373 The injured inhabitants of the Netherlands..finally revolted against the cruel tyranny of their sovereign.
1839 C. THIRLWALL Hist. Greece VI. 105 Little encouragement could be necessary to induce him to revolt against the sovereign whom he had unpardonably offended.
1861 E. EVERETT Address 25 in F. Moore
Rebellion Rec. I., It is not..the amount of the bounty, but the principle, as our fathers revolted against a three-penny tax on tea.
1914 H. W. W
ILLIAMS Russia of Russians vi. 203 Now some of the younger poets have revolted against their teachers.
1969 R. G
ODDEN In this House of Brede viii. 214 Didn't it take spunk to revolt against that overbearing mother?
1997 Daily Tel. 19 Feb. 14/6 Samuel Hahnemann revolted against the then-dominant tradition of allopathy.
f trans. To cause (a person, a nation, etc.) to change allegiance or rise in rebellion. Obs.
1571 R. R
AINOLDE Chron. Noble Emperours II. f. 119, Gildus..did by all meanes procure to reuolte the state of the Empyre, from the sonnes of the late Emperour theyr Lorde, vnto themselues.
1574 E. HELLOWES tr. A. de Guevara
Fam. Epist. (1577) 236 Whether of vs is moste culpable, I in following and obeying the King, or you in altering and reuolting ye kingdome.
1624 W. B
EDEL Copies Certaine Lett. x. 136 Pope Constantine..reuolted Italie from the Greeke Emperours obedience.
g. trans. To withdraw, take back (one's word, allegiance, etc.). Obs.
1580 A. MUNDAY Zelauto I. 45 Wylt thou reuolt thy former woords, and content thy selfe to yeelde submission to this peerelesse Princes?
1607 T. DEKKER &
J. WEBSTER Famous Hist. T. Wyat sig. C, Then they reuolt the alegeance from my Daughter, and giue it to another.
1625 S. PURCHAS Pilgrimes I.
IV. xiiii, We..cannot goe from, or reuolt our word againe euen to the last day.
a1641 T. HEYWOOD &
W. ROWLEY Fortune by Land & Sea (1655) 32 Why Gentlemen will you revault your words.
h. intr. To return to one's former allegiance. Obs. rare.
a1593 MARLOWE Tragicall Hist. Faustus (1604) sig. E4
v, Thou traitor Faustus,..Reuolt, or Ile in peece-meale teare thy flesh.
3. intr.
a. To convert to (unto) (another religion, etc.); to become apostate; to depart from (a faith, etc.). Obs.
1560 J. DAUS tr. J. Sleidane
Commentaries f. xxxvj, If they reuolte [L.
deficiant] vnto Papistrie.
1563 SANDYS in Strype
Ann. Reformation (1709) I. xxxv. 356 He upon displesure departed from Mr. Goodrick, and revolted in religion.
1634 T. HERBERT Relation Trav. 135 Iulian was first a Christian, but reuolted and became a most bitter and constant Persecutour to all that honoured Christ.
1653 E. L
EE Legenda Lignea (title-page), A Character of some hopefull Saints revolted to the Church of Rome.
1673 W. CAVE Primitive Christianity I. ii. 19 Revolting from a way of Worship which had been universally received.
1755 J. LELAND View Deistical Writers II. 446 Punishing those among the Israelites that should revolt to idolatry.
1783 Theatr. Portrait p. vii, Deprive the rising Generation of knowing Good from Evil, and let the World revolt back again to Ignorance.
1845 Church of Eng. Q. Rev. Jan. 234 The parties who raise so loud an outcry, when a clergyman revolts to Popery, are silent.
b. To depart from the truth. Obs.
1577 H. I. tr. H. Bullinger
50 Godlie Serm. 569/2 The Galathians being..seduced by the false apostles, reuolted [L.
defecerant] from the trueth & preaching of the Gospell.
1585 C. FETHERSTONE tr. J. Calvin
Comm. Acts xv. 37 Paul might haue granted something to the importunatnesse of his fellow apostle and yet haue not reuolted from the trueth.
1634 R. SIBBES Saints Safetie in Evill Times 87 When times of temptation come, unsound Christians wil do one of these three, either despise, refuse or revolt from the truth.
a1694 J. TILLOTSON Sincerity & Constancy in True Relig. (1695) 352 To revolt from the Truth, after we have made profession of it;..this is the great aggravation.
4. intr. To return to a place. Obs. rare
1.
1567 A. GOLDING tr. Ovid
Metamorphosis (new ed.)
X. f. 68, Shee..then reuolted too the place in which he had her found [L.
dixit revolutaque rursus eodem est].
5. trans. To turn (something) back; to repulse. Obs. rare.
1571 R. R
AINOLDE Chron. Noble Emperours II. f. 224
v, Monsignor Brisack..mindyng to reuolte the warre from Parma, caused certayne companies of souldiours..to repayre secretely vnto him oute of Fraunce.
1590 SPENSER Faerie Queene III. xi. 25 As a thonder bolt..doth displace The soring clouds..; So to her yold the flames, and did their force revolt.
6. intr. Chiefly of a person's heart, mind, nature, principles, etc.
a. To react or rise with repugnance against something.
1698 T. HEARNE Ductor Historicus I.
I. ii. 19 This Method..is so certain and evident that Human Reason can never revolt against it.
1748 tr. Mme de Grafigny
Lett. Written by Peruvian Princess xxxv. 243 This extreme severity [of religion]..struck me with awe at the same time that my heart revolted against it.
1761 W. R
IDER New Hist. of Eng. XLV. 84 Mr Wolfe, whose nature revolted against such wanton and perfidious cruelty, sent a letter to the French general.
1792 C. SMITH Desmond III. 10 A preference against the indulgence of which her principles must revolt.
1829 R. SOUTHEY Sir Thomas More (1831) II. 119 The heart instinctively revolts against the unnatural privations which are imposed upon it.
1860 J. G. HOLLAND Miss Gilbert's Career ix. 128 Her whole nature, she felt, would revolt against the adverse judgment at once.
1924 Amer. Mercury Nov. 314/1 Adult sense, indeed, revolts against this nonsensical prohibition.
1958 V
ISCT. M
ONTGOMERY Mem. xxx. 438 My soul revolted against this way of doing business, and I fear I made that very plain.
1994 C. C O'B
RIEN Great Melody 270 Burke could feel the force of such arguments... But his heart revolted against them.
b. To feel revulsion or disgust at something.
1724 tr. Mme. de Gomez
Belle Assemblée II. 28 Nature..did for a while revolt at the remembrance of the Cruelty inflicted on her.
1762 O. GOLDSMITH Citizen of World II. 224 The observer revolts at this mixture of important and paltry claims.
1771 E. GRIFFITH Hist. Lady Barton III. 261 My heart revolted at the mean idea.
1802 T. BEDDOES Hygëia I Advt. 7 Errors, at the grossness of which common sense..revolts.
1878 R. BROWNING La Saisiaz 47 'Tis just the main assumption reason most revolts at!
1935 C. B
ROOKS Jrnl. 30 Apr. (1998) 103 My old Tory blood revolted at these self-satisfied niggers ogling our women.
1995 Independent on Sunday 4 June (Review section) 38/3 His mind and conscience revolt at the grim, pointless roster of..individual assassinations.
c. Without preposition. To react with disgust or distaste.
1761 Library Apr. 25 These were executed with such masterly strokes, that my heart revolted with the most chilling horror. 1834 J. W. CALCRAFT tr. H. M. de Latude Mem. ii. 70, I had seen these preliminaries, and my stomach revolted. 1903 C. H. HANFORD in J. F. Dillon John Marshall III. 256 In these cases he enforced merciless laws, from a sense of duty, even when he was obliged to use expressions showing that his own feelings revolted. 2007 L. TAYLOR Blackbringer 29 A Djinn was dead. Her mind revolted.
d. To turn away with disgust or loathing from something; to recoil from.
1765 JOHNSON Pref. to Shakespear's Plays p. xxv, The mind revolts from evident falsehood.
1782 R. CUMBERLAND Anecd. Painters II. 87 The very eye that the hand of death was..closing..revolted with abhorrence from a disproportioned and ill-carved crucifix.
1806 H. SIDDONS Maid, Wife, & Widow I. 51 Every feeling of his heart and mind revolted from what he heard.
1863 ‘G. ELIOT’ Romola III. x. 104 He knew well that her mind revolted from that means of escape.
1912 M. P. W
ILLCOCKS Wings of Desire viii. 164 Her instinct of honesty, such as it was, revolted from the unreality of it all.
1941 A. C. B
OUQUET Compar. Relig. xi. 219 Human nature revolted from the severity of Mohammed's proclamations.
2007 K. F
OLLETT World without End 785 His instinct revolted from the idea of lying to his own brother.
7. a. trans. To affect (a person's mind, heart, feelings, etc.) with disgust or revulsion; to nauseate or disgust (a person).
1731 J. CONSTABLE Refl. Accuracy Style 177 When terms of this kind are kept at something greater distance, they are not so..apt to revolt the reader's mind.
1743 Athenian Lett. IV. cli. 45 The heart is revolted at the idea of corruption.
1790 Bystander 284 Lest it should..revolt the feelings of the public to see it turn about so suddenly.
1828 SCOTT Fair Maid of Perth v, in
Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. II. 169 Why, man, thy policy were enough to revolt a heathen divan.
1841 R. W. HAMILTON Nugæ Lit. 410 Crime has but to reach a pitch and turpitude, and the well-ordered mind is revolted and shocked.
1854 R. C. TRENCH Synonyms New Test. xxxiv. 141 Which would attract many..whom scurrile buffoonery would only revolt and repel.
1867 E. A. FREEMAN Hist. Norman Conquest I. vi. 553 The cruelties practised by Harold towards his captives did revolt the public opinion even of the ferocious time in which he lived.
1935 O. S
TAPLEDON Odd John i. 3 Strangers were often revolted by his uncouth proportions.
1979 B. BAINBRIDGE Another Part of Wood vi. 114 Joseph won't touch me... He says I revolt him.
1994 L. K
ASS Hungry Soul iii. 109 Just imagining the deed [eating human flesh] revolts and horrifies our sensibilities.
b. intr. To cause revulsion.
1834 E. BULWER-LYTTON Last Days of Pompeii I. Pref. p. xiv, It
fatigues
it weariesit revoltsand we have not the satisfaction, in yawning, to think that we yawn eruditely.
1898 Daily News 24 Jan. 8/5 You may not treat of a subject until it disgusts and revolts.
1969 M. ROBINSON Long Sonata of Dead I. i. 27 The world, both in itself and in its human dimension, revolts and disgusts.
1993 C. H
OWARD Love's Blood (1994)
III. xlvi. 475 Family murder is always bizarre, always repellent. It revolts, disgusts, offends.
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