revolver

See also: Revolver, revólver, and revòlver

English

Etymology

a revolver (sense 1)

how a revolver fires (sense 1)

From revolve +‎ -er, coined by American inventor Samuel Colt in 1835.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈvɒl.vɚ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒlvə(ɹ)

Noun

revolver (plural revolvers)

2. (firearms) A handgun with a revolving chamber enabling several shots to be fired without reloading.

   Synonyms: wheelgun, (US, slang, archaic) smoke wagon

   Hypernyms: pistol (broad sense), handgun < firearm < gun < ranged weapon < weapon

   Hyponyms: six-gun, six-shooter

   Coordinate terms: pistol (precise sense), rifle; see also Thesaurus:firearm

3. (by extension) Any (personal) firearm with such a mechanism.
4. (finance) Synonym of revolving line of credit, a form of credit permitting the holder to repeatedly borrow money.
   • 2023 December 16, “Musk told lenders they would not lose money on Twitter deal”, in FT Weekend (Companies & Markets section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 10:

     The debt is split between $6.5bn of term loans, as well as $6bn of senior and junior bonds and a $500mn revolver.

5. Agent noun of revolve; something that revolves.

Derived terms

• revolver flower
• service revolver
• snubnosed revolver

Descendants

Descendants

• → Catalan: revòlver
• → Chuvash: ляворвӑр (ljavorvăr)
• → Crimean Tatar: revolver
• → Danish: revolver
• → Dutch: revolver
• → Esperanto: revolvero
• → Finnish: revolveri
• → French: revolver
• → Gagauz: livorver
• → Galician: revólver
• → German: Revolver
• → Hungarian: revolver
• → Italian: revolver
• → Japanese: リボルバー (riborubā)
• Norwegian:
  • → Norwegian Bokmål: revolver
  • → Norwegian Nynorsk: revolver
• → Polish: rewolwer
• → Portuguese: revólver
• → Russian: револьвер (revolʹver)
• Serbo-Croatian:
  • → Cyrillic script: револвер
  • → Latin script: revolver
• → Spanish: revólver
• → Swedish: revolver
• → Urum: levorver
• → Yiddish: רעוואָלווער (revolver)

Translations

handgun with revolving chambers

• Afrikaans: rewolwer (af)
• Albanian: revole (sq)
• Arabic: مُسَدَّس f (musaddas)
• Armenian: ատրճանակ (hy) (atrčanak)
• Azerbaijani: altıatılan, altıaçılan
• Basque: errebolber
• Bulgarian: револве́р m (revolvér)
• Catalan: revòlver m
• Cebuano: bolber
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 左輪手槍 / 左轮手枪 (zh) (zuǒlún shǒuqiāng), 左輪 / 左轮 (zh) (zuǒlún)

• Crimean Tatar: revolver
• Czech: revolver (cs) m
• Dutch: revolver (nl)
• Esperanto: revolvero
• Estonian: revolver (et)
• Finnish: revolveri (fi)
• French: revolver (fr) m
• German: Revolver (de) m, Drehpistole (de) f (rare), Trommelpistole f (rare)
• Greek: περίστροφο (el) n (perístrofo)
• Hebrew: אֶקְדָּח (he) m (ekdakh)
• Hungarian: revolver (hu)
• Hunsrik: Rëvolver m
• Icelandic: marghleypt skammbyssa f
• Indonesian: repolper (id), pistol (id)
• Irish: gunnán m
• Italian: rivoltella (it) f, revorbaro (it) (dialectal), revolver (it) m, pistola a tamburo (it) f, pistola a rotazione f, pistola a ripetizione f, pistola a cilindro f
• Japanese: リボルバー (ja) (riborubā)
• Kalmyk: пистул (pistul)
• Kankanaey: taliboko
• Kazakh: алтыатар (altıatar), револьвер (revolʹver)
• Korean: 리볼버 (ribolbeo)
• Latvian: revolveris m
• Lithuanian: revolveris m
• Malay: revolver
• Maltese: rivolver m
• Māori: pū hurihuri
• Marathi: रिव्हॉलव्हर f (rivhŏlavhar)
• Papiamentu: revòlver
• Persian: هفت‌تیر (haft-tir), رولور (fa) (revolver)
• Plautdietsch: Rewolwa m
• Polish: rewolwer (pl) m, bębenkowiec m
• Portuguese: revólver (pt) m
• Romanian: revolver (ro) n

  Cyrillic: револвер (revolver)

• Russian: револьве́р (ru) m (revolʹvér), (Nagant revolver) нага́н (ru) m (nagán)
• Scottish Gaelic: daga-cuairt m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: револвер m

  Latin: revolver (sh) m

• Spanish: revólver (es) m, mitigüeso m or f (Smith & Wesson, Latin America, p.u.), mitihueso m or f (Smith & Wesson, Chile, p.u.), mistihueso m (Dominican Republic)
• Swedish: revolver (sv) c
• Tagalog: rebolber
• Turkish: altıpatlar (tr)
• Ukrainian: револьве́р (uk) m (revolʹvér)
• Urdu: ریوالور (rewalwor)
• Yiddish: רעוואָלווער m (revolver), שפּײַער m (shpayer) (criminal slang), נאַגאַן m (nagan) (Nagant revolver)
• Zulu: volovolo

Further reading

• revolver on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

Borrowed from English revolver.

Noun

revolver

1. revolver pistol

Declension

Declension of revolver

nominative	revolver
genitive	revolverniñ
dative	revolverge
accusative	revolverni
locative	revolverde
ablative	revolverden

References

• Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002), Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎^[1], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

Czech

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *wre-

Latin re-

Proto-Indo-European *welH-der.

Proto-Italic *wolwō

Latin volvō

Latin revolvō

Old French revolverbor.

Middle English revolven

English revolve

Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.

Proto-Italic *-āzios

Latin -āriusnom.

Latin -āriusbor.

Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz

Proto-West Germanic *-ārī

Old English -ere

Middle English -ere

English -er

English revolverbor.

Czech revolver

Borrowed from English revolver.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈrɛvolvɛr]

Noun

revolver m inan

1. revolver (handgun)

Declension

Declension of revolver (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	revolver	revolvery
genitive	revolveru	revolverů
dative	revolveru	revolverům
accusative	revolver	revolvery
vocative	revolvere	revolvery
locative	revolveru	revolverech
instrumental	revolverem	revolvery

Related terms

• See voluta

Further reading

• “revolver”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “revolver”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English revolver.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

revolver m (plural revolvers, diminutive revolvertje n)

1. revolver

Hypernyms

• vuistvuurwapen

French

Alternative forms

• révolver (post-1990 spelling)

Etymology

Borrowed from English revolver.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁe.vɔl.vɛʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

revolver m (plural revolvers)

1. revolver (gun)

Derived terms

• poche-revolver

Further reading

• “revolver”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
• Littré, Émile (1873–1878), “revolver”, in Dictionnaire de la langue française, Paris: L. Hachette

Hungarian

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from English revolver.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈrɛvolvɛr]
• Hyphenation: re‧vol‧ver
• Rhymes: -ɛr

Noun

revolver (plural revolverek)

1. revolver

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	revolver	revolverek
accusative	revolvert	revolvereket
dative	revolvernek	revolvereknek
instrumental	revolverrel	revolverekkel
causal-final	revolverért	revolverekért
translative	revolverré	revolverekké
terminative	revolverig	revolverekig
essive-formal	revolverként	revolverekként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	revolverben	revolverekben
superessive	revolveren	revolvereken
adessive	revolvernél	revolvereknél
illative	revolverbe	revolverekbe
sublative	revolverre	revolverekre
allative	revolverhez	revolverekhez
elative	revolverből	revolverekből
delative	revolverről	revolverekről
ablative	revolvertől	revolverektől
non-attributive possessive – singular	revolveré	revolvereké
non-attributive possessive – plural	revolveréi	revolverekéi

Possessive forms of revolver

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	revolverem	revolvereim
2nd person sing.	revolvered	revolvereid
3rd person sing.	revolvere	revolverei
1st person plural	revolverünk	revolvereink
2nd person plural	revolveretek	revolvereitek
3rd person plural	revolverük	revolvereik

Derived terms

• revolveres

Further reading

• revolver in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Italian

Alternative forms

• revolve
• revolvere
• revolvero

Etymology

Borrowed from English revolver.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /reˈvɔl.ver/
• Rhymes: -ɔlver
• Hyphenation: re‧vòl‧ver

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

revolver m (invariable)

1. revolver (handgun)

   Synonyms: pistola a tamburo, pistola a rotazione, pistola a ripetizione, pistola a cilindro, rivoltella, (dialectal) revorbaro

2. rotating attachment, on a camera, having multiple lenses

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from English revolver.

Noun

revolver m (definite singular revolveren, indefinite plural revolvere, definite plural revolverne)

1. a revolver

   Han fikk tak i en revolver.

   He got hold of a revolver.

References

• “revolver” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from English revolver.

Noun

revolver m (definite singular revolveren, indefinite plural revolverar, definite plural revolverane)

1. a revolver

   Han fekk tak i ein revolver.

   He got hold of a revolver.

References

• “revolver” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Etymology 1

From Latin revolvere (“to turn over, to roll back, to reflect upon”), from re- (“back, again”) + volvō (“roll”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁe.vowˈve(ʁ)/ [he.voʊ̯ˈve(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁe.vowˈve(ʁ)/ [he.voʊ̯ˈve(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ʁe.vowˈve(ɾ)/ [he.voʊ̯ˈve(ɾ)]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ʁe.vowˈve(ʁ)/ [χe.voʊ̯ˈve(χ)]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ʁe.vowˈve(ɻ)/ [he.voʊ̯ˈve(ɻ)]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁɨ.volˈveɾ/ [ʁɨ.voɫˈveɾ], /ʁɨ.vɔlˈveɾ/ [ʁɨ.vɔɫˈveɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁɨ.volˈveɾ/ [ʁɨ.voɫˈveɾ], /ʁɨ.vɔlˈveɾ/ [ʁɨ.vɔɫˈveɾ]
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁɨ.bolˈbeɾ/ [ʁɨ.βoɫˈβeɾ], /ʁɨ.bɔlˈbeɾ/ [ʁɨ.βɔɫˈβeɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁɨ.volˈve.ɾi/ [ʁɨ.voɫˈve.ɾi], /ʁɨ.vɔlˈve.ɾi/ [ʁɨ.vɔɫˈve.ɾi]

• Hyphenation: re‧vol‧ver

Verb

revolver (first-person singular present revolvo, first-person singular preterite revolvi, past participle revolvido, short past participle revolto)

1. to turn over (e.g., earth)
2. to roll (the eyes)
3. to go through (e.g., archives)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of revolver (irregular short past participle) (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	revolver
Personal	revolver	revolveres	revolver	revolvermos	revolverdes	revolverem
Gerund
	revolvendo
Short past participle
Masculine	revolto1			revoltos1
Feminine	revolta1			revoltas1
Long past participle
Masculine	revolvido2			revolvidos2
Feminine	revolvida2			revolvidas2
Indicative
Present	revolvo	revolves	revolve	revolvemos	revolveis	revolvem
Imperfect	revolvia	revolvias	revolvia	revolvíamos	revolvíeis	revolviam
Preterite	revolvi	revolveste	revolveu	revolvemos	revolvestes	revolveram
Pluperfect	revolvera	revolveras	revolvera	revolvêramos	revolvêreis	revolveram
Future	revolverei	revolverás	revolverá	revolveremos	revolvereis	revolverão
Conditional	revolveria	revolverias	revolveria	revolveríamos	revolveríeis	revolveriam
Subjunctive
Present	revolva	revolvas	revolva	revolvamos	revolvais	revolvam
Imperfect	revolvesse	revolvesses	revolvesse	revolvêssemos	revolvêsseis	revolvessem
Future	revolver	revolveres	revolver	revolvermos	revolverdes	revolverem
Imperative
Affirmative		revolve	revolva	revolvamos	revolvei	revolvam
Negative (não)		não revolvas	não revolva	não revolvamos	não revolvais	não revolvam

¹Usually used with auxiliary verbs ser and estar.
²Usually used with auxiliary verbs haver and ter.

Related terms

• revolto
• revólver
• volver

Further reading

• “revolver”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “revolver”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “revolver”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
• “revolver”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026

Etymology 2

Noun

revolver m (plural revolveres)

1. pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of revólver

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French revolver.

Noun

revolver n (plural revolvere)

1. revolver, pistol

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	revolver	revolverul	revolvere	revolverele
genitive-dative	revolver	revolverului	revolvere	revolverelor
vocative	revolverule		revolverelor

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from English revolver.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /reʋǒlʋer/
• Hyphenation: re‧vol‧ver

Noun

revòlver m inan (Cyrillic spelling рево̀лвер)

1. revolver

Declension

Declension of revolver

	singular	plural
nominative	revolver	revolveri
genitive	revolvera	revolvera
dative	revolveru	revolverima
accusative	revolver	revolvere
vocative	revolveru	revolveri
locative	revolveru	revolverima
instrumental	revolverom	revolverima

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin revolvere (“turn over, roll back, reflect upon”), from re- (“back, again”) + volvō (“roll”). Cognate with English revolve although a false friend.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rebolˈbeɾ/ [re.β̞olˈβ̞eɾ]
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: re‧vol‧ver

Verb

revolver (first-person singular present revuelvo, first-person singular preterite revolví, past participle revuelto)

1. to stir, to mix
2. to jumble up, to disarrange
3. to turn over, to poke about, to rummage around in
4. to consider, to turn over, to ponder
5. to disturb, to stir up, to upset
6. to swing around
7. to wrap, to wrap up
8. to turn 360 degrees, to revolve

Usage notes

• Revolver is a false friend and does not mean a type of gun in Spanish. The Spanish word for that English meaning of revolver is revólver.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of revolver (irregular; o-ue alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			revolver
gerund			revolviendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		revuelto		revuelta
		plural		revueltos		revueltas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	revuelvo	revuelvestú revolvésvos	revuelve	revolvemos	revolvéis	revuelven
	imperfect	revolvía	revolvías	revolvía	revolvíamos	revolvíais	revolvían
	preterite	revolví	revolviste	revolvió	revolvimos	revolvisteis	revolvieron
	future	revolveré	revolverás	revolverá	revolveremos	revolveréis	revolverán
	conditional	revolvería	revolverías	revolvería	revolveríamos	revolveríais	revolverían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	revuelva	revuelvastú revolvásvos2	revuelva	revolvamos	revolváis	revuelvan
	imperfect (ra)	revolviera	revolvieras	revolviera	revolviéramos	revolvierais	revolvieran
	imperfect (se)	revolviese	revolvieses	revolviese	revolviésemos	revolvieseis	revolviesen
	future1	revolviere	revolvieres	revolviere	revolviéremos	revolviereis	revolvieren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		revuelvetú revolvévos	revuelva	revolvamos	revolved	revuelvan
	negative		no revuelvas	no revuelva	no revolvamos	no revolváis	no revuelvan

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of revolver (irregular; o-ue alternation)

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive revolver	dative	revolverme	revolverte	revolverle, revolverse	revolvernos	revolveros	revolverles, revolverse
	accusative	revolverme	revolverte	revolverlo, revolverla, revolverse	revolvernos	revolveros	revolverlos, revolverlas, revolverse
with gerund revolviendo	dative	revolviéndome	revolviéndote	revolviéndole, revolviéndose	revolviéndonos	revolviéndoos	revolviéndoles, revolviéndose
	accusative	revolviéndome	revolviéndote	revolviéndolo, revolviéndola, revolviéndose	revolviéndonos	revolviéndoos	revolviéndolos, revolviéndolas, revolviéndose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative revuelve	dative	revuélveme	revuélvete	revuélvele	revuélvenos	not used	revuélveles
	accusative	revuélveme	revuélvete	revuélvelo, revuélvela	revuélvenos	not used	revuélvelos, revuélvelas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative revolvé	dative	revolveme	revolvete	revolvele	revolvenos	not used	revolveles
	accusative	revolveme	revolvete	revolvelo, revolvela	revolvenos	not used	revolvelos, revolvelas
with formal second-person singular imperative revuelva	dative	revuélvame	not used	revuélvale, revuélvase	revuélvanos	not used	revuélvales
	accusative	revuélvame	not used	revuélvalo, revuélvala, revuélvase	revuélvanos	not used	revuélvalos, revuélvalas
with first-person plural imperative revolvamos	dative	not used	revolvámoste	revolvámosle	revolvámonos	revolvámoos	revolvámosles
	accusative	not used	revolvámoste	revolvámoslo, revolvámosla	revolvámonos	revolvámoos	revolvámoslos, revolvámoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative revolved	dative	revolvedme	not used	revolvedle	revolvednos	revolveos	revolvedles
	accusative	revolvedme	not used	revolvedlo, revolvedla	revolvednos	revolveos	revolvedlos, revolvedlas
with formal second-person plural imperative revuelvan	dative	revuélvanme	not used	revuélvanle	revuélvannos	not used	revuélvanles, revuélvanse
	accusative	revuélvanme	not used	revuélvanlo, revuélvanla	revuélvannos	not used	revuélvanlos, revuélvanlas, revuélvanse

Derived terms

• huevos revueltos
• revolver el ajo
• revolver el avispero
• revolver el caldo
• revolver el hato
• revolver la feria

Related terms

• revoltear
• revoltijo
• revoltoso
• revoltura
• revolución
• revuelto
• volver

Further reading

• “revolver”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English revolver.

Noun

revolver c

1. a revolver (firearm)

Declension

Declension of revolver

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	revolver	revolvers
	definite	revolvern	revolverns
plural	indefinite	revolvrar	revolvrars
	definite	revolvrarna	revolvrarnas

Derived terms

• revolverman (“gunslinger”)

References

• “revolver”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “revolver”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “revolver”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)