The Industrial Revolution

Etymology

“Industrial” comes from Latin “industria” (“diligence”); “revolution” from Latin “revolvere” (“to roll back, turn around”), a word that shifted from meaning a cyclical return to meaning a sudden, sweeping change. The phrase was popularized in English by the historian Arnold Toynbee’s 1880s lectures, though French writers had used it earlier.

noun phrase · /in-DUS-tree-ul rev-uh-LOO-shun/
The shift, beginning in late-18th-century Britain, from hand production and farming to machine manufacturing, factories, and mechanized power.
What it names
The single most consequential economic break in modern history, the hinge on which population, wealth, and daily work all swung.
Example
Whole villages emptied as the Industrial Revolution pulled families toward the mill towns.
Related idea
Distinguish it from urbanization, one of its chief consequences; the Industrial Revolution names the leap in production, while urbanization names the crowd that flowed into the cities as a result.