noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/ˌɪnsəˈɹɛkʃn̩/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˌɪnsəˈɹɛkʃ(ə)n/
rhymes with -ɛkʃən
CMU ARPABET:IH2 N S ER0 EH1 K SH AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The 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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: also, figuratively, uncountable
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)
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: insurgency, mutiny, rebellion, rising
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
organized opposition to authority; a conflict in which one faction tries to wrest control from another
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: rebellion, revolt, rising, uprising
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: conflict, struggle, battle
Narrower terms: insurgency, insurgence, intifada, intifadah, mutiny, Peasant's Revolt, Great Revolt, Indian Mutiny, Sepoy Mutiny
History
Etymology
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”))).
Across languages
Translations
73 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
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
Armenian:
ապստամբություն
(apstambutʻyun)
— 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
Armenian:
բունտ
(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
Armenian:
խռովություն
(xṙovutʻyun)
— 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
Belarusian:
паўста́нне
(pawstánnje)
— 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
(vǎstánie)
— 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
(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
Chinese Mandarin:
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
Chinese Mandarin:
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
— 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
Danish:
oprør
— 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
Danish:
opstand
— 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
Dutch:
muiterij
— 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
Dutch:
opstand
— 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
Dutch:
rebellie
— 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
Faroese:
uppreistur
— 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
Finnish:
kapina
— 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
French:
insurrection
— 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
Georgian:
ამბოხება
(amboxeba)
— 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
Georgian:
ამბოხი
(amboxi)
— 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
Georgian:
აჯანყება
(aǯanq̇eba)
— 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
German:
Aufstand
— 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
German:
Erhebung
— 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
German:
Meuterei
— 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
German:
Revolte
— 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
German:
Rebellion
— 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
Greek:
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
(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
Hebrew:
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
(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
Hindi:
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
— 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
Icelandic:
uppreisn
— 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
Italian:
insurrezione
— 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
Japanese:
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
(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
— 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:
sēditiō
— 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
Māori:
whakakeke
— 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
Norwegian Bokmål:
opprør
— 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
Norwegian Nynorsk:
opprør
— 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
Persian:
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
Persian:
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
Persian:
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
Persian:
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
— 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:
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
Portuguese:
insurreição
— 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
Romanian:
insurecție
— 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
Russian:
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
Russian:
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
Russian:
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
Serbo-Croatian:
бу́на
— 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
Serbo-Croatian:
по̏буна
— 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
Serbo-Croatian:
у̀станак)
— 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
Serbo-Croatian:
búna
— 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
Serbo-Croatian:
pȍbuna
— 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
Serbo-Croatian:
ùstanak
— 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
— 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
Spanish:
insurrección
— 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
Swedish:
resning
— 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
Swedish:
revolt
— 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
Swedish:
uppror
— 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
Tajik:
исён
(isyon)
— 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
Tajik:
қиём
(qiyom)
— 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
Tajik:
шуриш
(šuriš)
— 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
Tajik:
туғён
(tuġyon)
— 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
Thai:
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
(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
— 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
Welsh:
gwrthryfel
— 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
Welsh:
terfysg
— 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
Yiddish:
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
