rebellion
Pluralrebellions (some meanings)
- 1The use of armed force to resist a ruler or the government in power.
The border provinces have been in open rebellion since the conscription order was announced.
Decades of harsh rule finally drove the peasants to rebellion.
Similarrevolt, insurrection, insurgency, uprising, mutiny
Oppositesubmission, obedience
Note
The mass-noun use, taking no article: a province is in open rebellion, people are driven to rebellion, a government tries to stop rebellion. The word is built from rebel plus -ion and came through Old French from Latin rebelliō. Here it names a condition rather than one event. Once you count it (a rebellion, two rebellions), you have moved to the organized uprising or a single act of defiance.
- 2The act of defying those in authority or refusing to submit to their control.
His decision to quit law school was a quiet rebellion against his family's expectations.
The warehouse staff staged a brief rebellion, refusing to clock in until the new schedule was scrapped.
Similardefiance, revolt, resistance, protest, mutiny
Oppositeobedience, compliance, conformity
- 3An organized, forceful subversion of the law of the land, aimed at replacing it with another form of government.
The rebellion collapsed when its leaders failed to win over the garrisons stationed in the capital.
Leaders of the rebellion announced their aim of dissolving the monarchy and founding a republic.
Similarrevolt, uprising, insurrection, revolution, rising
Practice
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Origin
This word comes through Middle English "rebellioun" from Old French "rebellion," which goes back to Latin "rebelliō." It is equivalent to "rebel" plus the suffix "-ion."