Etymology

reactionary

re·ac·tion·ary
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Today it means: Extremely conservative; opposing revolution (such as the French Revolution); favoring a return to a "golden age" of the past. Full definition →

French réactionnaire ← Medieval Latin reactio ← Latin reagō
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The story

  1. Proto-Italic*wre-
  2. Latinre-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eǵ-
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éǵeti
  5. Proto-Italic*agō
  6. Latinagō
  7. Latinreagō
  8. Medieval Latinreactio
  9. Frenchréaction
  10. Frenchréactionnaire
  11. English todayreactionary

Borrowed from French réactionnaire, equivalent to reaction + -ary. Used in the time of the French revolution to refer to a person opposing the revolution; as in favoring a reaction against the revolution.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.