Word.ws English Dictionary

revolve

/ɹɪˈvɒlv/US/ɹɪˈvɑlv/

revolve verb: to bring back into a particular place or condition; to restore.

Verb

revolve (third-person singular simple present revolves, present participle revolving, simple past and past participle revolved)

  1. (archaic, transitive, Physical movement.) To bring back into a particular place or condition; to restore.
  2. (transitive, Physical movement.) To cause (something) to turn around a central point.
  3. (intransitive, Physical movement.) To orbit a central point (especially of a celestial body).
    • The Earth revolves around the sun.
  4. (intransitive, Physical movement.) To rotate around an axis.
    • The Earth revolves once every twenty-four hours.
    • It is never possible to settle down to the ordinary routine of life at sea until the screw begins to revolve. There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy.1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC
  5. (intransitive, Physical movement.) To move in order or sequence.
    • The program revolves through all the queues before returning to the start.
  6. (archaic, transitive, Mental activity.) To ponder on; to reflect repeatedly upon; to consider all aspects of.
    • These are the difficulties which arise to me on revolving this scheme […].1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter LXXXII”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn...
    • He sits silent, revolving many thoughts, at the foot of St. Edmund’s Shrine.1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “chapter 6, Monk Samson”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book II (The Ancient Monk)
  7. (obsolete, transitive, Mental activity.) To read through, to study (a book, author etc.).
    • This having heard, strait I again revolv’d / The Law and Prophets.1671, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC

Noun

revolve (plural revolves)

  1. The rotation of part of the scenery within a theatrical production.
  2. The rotating section itself.
    • […] a revolving stage, two-level platforms stage left and stage right, and a large bridge that connected the platforms midstage, twelve feet up off the revolve.2003, Gary Philip Cohen, The Community Theater Handbook, page 134
  3. (obsolete) A radical change; revolution.

revolve meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

revolve in Hindi

to orbit a central point
घूमना ghūmnā

revolve in Tamil

சுற்று, சுழற்று, சுற்றி வா, வட்டமடி

revolve in Urdu

گردش کرنا, گھومنا, پلٹ جانا, پلٹنا, پھرنا, چکر کاٹنا

revolve in Bengali

ঘোরা
More languagesFewer languages
revolve in Malayalam
കറങ്ങുക kaṟaṅṅuka
revolve in Kannada
ಸುಳಿ, ಉರುಳು, ತೊಳಲು, ಸುತ್ತು ತಿರುಗು
revolve in Sinhala
බමණවා bamaṇawā
revolve in Pashto
څرخول carxawəl, تاوول tāwawəl, اړول arrawəl
revolve in Malay
edar
revolve in Indonesian
edar
revolve in Thai
โคจร koo-jɔɔn, หมุน mǔn, วน won, เวียน wiian

Examples of revolve in a sentence

  • The occasional apparent backward movement of planets is evidence that they revolve around the sun.
  • A rotary engine revolves the heads rather than having pistons go back and forth.
  • He thinks that everything revolves around him; he needs to have a word with himself.

All 40 example sentences with revolve

Forms of revolve

Verb
third-person singular presentrevolves
present participlerevolving
past participlerevolved
pastrevolved
Noun
pluralrevolves

Past tense of revolve: revolved

Plural of revolve: revolves

Origin of revolve

From Middle English revolven (“to change direction”), borrowed from Old French revolver (“to reflect upon”), from Latin revolvere (“turn over, roll back, reflect upon”), from re- (“back”) + volvō (“roll”); see voluble, volve.

Words formed from revolve

Words that rhyme with revolve

16 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about revolve

What does revolve mean?
Revolve means to bring back into a particular place or condition; to restore.
What is revolve in Hindi?
Revolve in Hindi is घूमना (ghūmnā). See Revolve meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is revolve?
Revolve can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce revolve?
Revolve is pronounced /ɹɪˈvɒlv/ (UK).
What is the past tense of revolve?
The past tense of revolve is revolved.

Words near revolve in the dictionary

  1. revolutionizing
  2. revolutions
  3. revolutions are not made with rosewater
  4. revolutive
  5. revolvable
  6. revolve
  7. revolve around
  8. revolved
  9. revolved around
  10. revolvement
  11. revolvements

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: revolve (page history and authors); revolve (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); revolve (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); revolve (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); കറങ്ങുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); revolve (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); බමණවා (Sinhala) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “revolve.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/revolve. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.