invasion

American  

[in-vey-zhuhn] / ɪnˈveɪ ʒən /

noun

• invasions
  plural

1. an act or instance of invading or entering as an enemy, especially by an army.

2. the entrance or advent of anything troublesome or harmful, as disease.

3. entrance as if to take possession or overrun.

   the annual invasion of the resort by tourists.

4. infringement by intrusion.

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invasion British  

/ ɪnˈveɪʒən /

noun

1. the act of invading with armed forces

2. any encroachment or intrusion

   an invasion of rats

3. the onset or advent of something harmful, esp of a disease

4. pathol the spread of cancer from its point of origin into surrounding tissues

5. the movement of plants to a new area or to an area to which they are not native

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• reinvasion
  noun
• preinvasion
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• invasions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of invasion

1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin invāsīon- (stem of invāsiō ), equivalent to invās ( us ), past participle of invādere + -iōn- -ion; see invade

Explanation

An invasion is the movement of an army into a region, usually in a hostile attack that's part of a war or conflict. World history is full of descriptions of invasions. One country's army plundering or taking over a city or piece of land in another country is an invasion. You can call other mass movements invasions as well, like a horrifying invasion of your kitchen by cockroaches, or the invasion of a stadium by excited soccer fans. A common phrase is "invasion of privacy," which means an unfair intrusion into someone's personal space or private information.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

invasion invasions

Responding to the Schenectady massacre, forces raised in New York and New England staged an invasion of New France in the following summer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Concerns over how the war in Ukraine would affect global food supplies have been persistent since the start of Russia's invasion in 2022.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

Pyongyang calls them rehearsals for an invasion and has staged missile launches before and after them in the past.

From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026

Licence's research suggests that England's support for a rival papal faction could have helped convince Alexander to support the Norman invasion.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

He meant he was going if there was an invasion.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion in 2022, following his covert invasions of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and eastern regions in 2014, Russian forces have captured roughly 12% of Ukraine’s territory.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026

Kagan insists that the Fourth Amendment cannot be defeated by slicing invasions of privacy into pieces small enough to appear constitutionally insignificant.

From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2026

Communities in Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia and elsewhere have wrestled with invasions in recent years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026

Their designs also opened a window into the colonial invasions of India between the 16th and 19th Centuries by the Dutch, Portuguese, French and the British.

From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2026

For instance, the Fertile Crescent, China, and Europe differed in their exposure to the perennial threat of barbarian invasions by horse-mounted pastoral nomads of Central Asia.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

• aggression
• assault
• breach
• incursion
• infiltration
• infringement
• intrusion
• offensive
• onslaught
• raid
• violation