revel

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˈrɛvəl/ UK /ˈrɛvəl/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like level /l/ vs /r/ Sounds like ravel /ɛ/ vs /æ/

Meanings

1

verb
to take great pleasure or delight; to celebrate boisterously

She reveled in the applause of the crowd.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to take great pleasure or... delight luxuriate rejoice wallow bask carouse celebrate

Opposites

mourn grieve

Word family

Forms revellerrevellers

Derived forms revelerrevelry

Related forms revelryrevelerrebel

Simplified etymology

Revel entered Middle English from the French equivalent of rebel. In French, the basic sense “rise in rebellion” developed into “make a noise.”

Etymology

From Old French reveler ('to revolt, make merry, carouse'), from Latin rebellare ('to rebel'), from re- ('again') + bellare ('to wage war'), from bellum ('war'); the sense shifted from riotous behavior to merrymaking.

reveler Old French rebellare Latin bellum Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# revel

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈrɛvəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈrɛvəl/

## Meanings
1. to take great pleasure or delight; to celebrate boisterously

## Examples
- She reveled in the applause of the crowd.

## Synonyms
- delight
- luxuriate
- rejoice
- wallow
- bask
- carouse
- celebrate

## Antonyms
- mourn
- grieve

## Derived Forms
- reveler
- revelry

## Related Forms
- revelry
- reveler
- rebel

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: reveler
- Root: rebellare
- Root: bellum

## Etymology
From Old French reveler ('to revolt, make merry, carouse'), from Latin rebellare ('to rebel'), from re- ('again') + bellare ('to wage war'), from bellum ('war'); the sense shifted from riotous behavior to merrymaking.

## AI Etymology
Revel comes from Old French reveler ('to revolt, make merry, carouse'), from Latin rebellare ('to rebel'), from re- ('again') + bellare ('to wage war'), from bellum ('war'); the sense shifted from riotous behavior to merrymaking. The prefix supplies the first semantic turn, while the base carries the lexical core of the word. As a verb and noun, it means "to take great pleasure or delight; to celebrate boisterously", so the modern sense keeps the older action or relation visible. Relevant historical forms include Old French reveler, Latin rebellare, and Latin bellum. Derivative forms include reveler, revelry; related words include revelry, reveler, rebel.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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