Meanings
plural insurrections
- alsofigurativelyuncountableThe action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; (countable) an instance of this; a revolt, an uprising; specifically, one that is at an initial stage or limited in nature.
He returned to Spain, and was now on his way to join and take command of an insurrection, whose success was to be the touchstone of their countrymen.
1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter IV, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 855 more examples
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. (1866, Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Section 3)
After this, by the great wiſedome and politic of the Nobles and Captaynes, a communication was had, and an agreement made vppon the Kings pardon, obtayned for all the Captaynes and chiefe doers in this inſurrection, and promiſe made that they ſhoulde bee gentlye heard, to declare ſuch things as they found themſelues agreeued with, […]
1577, Raphaell Holinshed, “King Henry the Eyghte”, in The Laste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume II, London: […] for Iohn Hunne, →OCLC, page 1568, column 2And therefore if God afterward gave, or permitted this inſurrection of Epiſcopacy, it is to be fear'd he did it in his wrath, as he gave the Iſraelites a King.
1642 (indicated as 1641), John Milton, “That Prelaty Was Not Set Up for Prevention of Schisme, as is Pretended, or if It Were, that It Performes Not What It Was First Set Up for, but Quite the Contrary”, in The Reason of Church-governement Urg’d against Prelaty […], London: […] E[dward] G[riffin] for Iohn Rothwell, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 29Our own experience has corroborated the leſſons taught by the examples of other nations; […] that ſeditions and inſurrections are unhappily maladies as inſeparable from the body politic, as tumours and eruptions from the natural body; […]
1788, Publius [pseudonym; Alexander Hamilton], “Number XXVIII. The Same Subject Continued. [The Necessity of a Government, at Least Equally Energetic with the One Proposed.].”, in The Federalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favour of the New Constitution, […] , volume I, New York, N.Y.: […] J. and A. M‘Lean, […], →OCLC, page 173Thinking more metaphorically, his American contemporary James Russell Lowell wrote: “It is not the insurrections of ignorance that are dangerous, but the revolts of intelligence.” Had he lived to the year 2021, he might have changed his mind.
2021 January 13, Steven Poole, “'Insurrection': how an old word for an old thing was Trumped”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 20 Jan 2021Synonyms: insurgency, mutiny, rebellion, rising
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; (countable) an instance of this; a revolt, an uprising; specifically, one that is at an initial stage or limited in nature.
More synonyms by meaning
nounorganized opposition to authority; a conflict in which one faction tries to wrest control from another
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃reǵ-“to right oneself, straighten; just; right”
- Latinīnsurrēctiōnem
- Old Frenchinsurreccïon
- Middle Frenchinsurrection
- Middle Englishinsurreccion“uprising against a government, rebellion, revolt; civil disorder, riot; illegal armed assault”
- Englishinsurrection
From Late Middle English insurreccion (“uprising against a government, rebellion, revolt; civil disorder, riot; illegal armed assault”) [and other forms], from Middle French insurrection, Old French insurreccïon (modern French insurrection), and from their etymon Latin īnsurrēctiōnem (rare), the accusative singular of īnsurrēctiō (“rising up, insurrection, rebellion”), from īnsurgō (“to rise up”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside, within’) + surgō (“to arise, get up; to rise”) (from sub- (prefix meaning ‘(from) beneath, under’) + regō (“to direct, govern, rule; to guide, steer; to manage, oversee”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to right oneself, straighten; just; right”))).
More words from Middle English, Middle French, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic انتفاضة
- انتفاضة (intifāḍa)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Bulgarian въста́ние
- въста́ние (văstánie)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Chinese Mandarin 暴動 /暴动, 起義 /起义
- 暴動 /暴动 (bàodòng)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- 起義 /起义 (qǐyì)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- 造反 (zàofǎn)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Czech povstání
- povstáníaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Danish oprør, opstand
- oprøraction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- opstandaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Dutch muiterij, opstand
- muiterijaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- opstandaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- rebellieaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Finnish kapina
- kapinaaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
French insurrection
- insurrectionaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
German Aufstand, Erhebung
- Aufstandaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- Erhebungaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- Meutereiaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- Revolteaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- Rebellionaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Greek εξέγερση
- εξέγερση (exégersi)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Hebrew מרידה, התקוממות
- מרידה (meridá)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- התקוממות (hitkomemút)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Hindi विप्लव, क्रांति
- विप्लव (viplav)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- क्रांति (krānti)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Hungarian felkelés
- felkelésaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Icelandic uppreisn
- uppreisnaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Italian insurrezione
- insurrezioneaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Japanese 暴動
- 暴動 (bōdō)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Korean 폭동
- 폭동 (pokdong)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Latin insurrēctiō, sēditiō
- insurrēctiōaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- sēditiōaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Māori whakakeke
- whakakekeaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Norwegian Bokmål opprør
- opprøraction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Persian عصیان, قیام
- عصیان ('osyân)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- قیام (qiyâm)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- شورش (šureš)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- خیزش (xizeš)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Polish insurekcja, bunt
- insurekcjaaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- buntaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Portuguese insurreição
- insurreiçãoaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Romanian insurecție
- insurecțieaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Russian бунт, мяте́ж
- бунт (bunt)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- мяте́ж (mjatéž)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- восста́ние (vosstánije)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Slovak povstanie
- povstanieaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Spanish insurrección
- insurrecciónaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Swedish resning, revolt
- resningaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- revoltaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- upproraction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Thai กบฏ
- กบฏ (gà-bòt)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Ukrainian повста́ння
- повста́ння (povstánnja)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Vietnamese khởi nghĩa
- khởi nghĩaaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Welsh gwrthryfel, terfysg
- gwrthryfelaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
- terfysgaction of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Yiddish אויפֿשטאַנד
- אויפֿשטאַנד (oyfshtand)action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; an instance of this — see also revolt, uprising
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with insurrection
Cite this entry
insurrection. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/insurrection
“insurrection.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/insurrection. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “insurrection,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/insurrection.
Source: insurrection on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.