Editing Propaganda (section)

==Etymology==

{{Main|Propaganda Fide}}

''Propaganda'' is a modern Latin word, the neuter plural [[gerundive]] form of {{lang|la|propagare}}, meaning 'to spread' or 'to propagate', thus ''propaganda'' means ''the things which are to be propagated''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/152605 |title=propaganda, n. |date=December 2020 |website=Oxford English Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=20 April 2021 }}</ref> Originally this word derived from a new administrative body ([[Congregation (Roman Curia)|congregation]]) of the [[Catholic Church]] created in 1622 as part of the [[Counter-Reformation]], called the ''[[Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples|Congregatio de Propaganda Fide]]'' (''Congregation for Propagating the Faith''), or informally simply ''Propaganda''.<ref name="Diggs-Brown2011p48">{{Cite book |last=Diggs-Brown |first=Barbara |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7c0ycySng4YC&pg=PA48 |title=Strategic Public Relations: An Audience-Focused Approach |date=2011-08-12 |publisher=[[Cengage Learning]] |isbn=978-0-534-63706-4 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=propaganda|title=Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=6 March 2015}}</ref> Its activity was aimed at "propagating" the Catholic faith in non-Catholic countries.<ref name="Diggs-Brown2011p48"/>

From the 1790s, the term began being used also to refer to ''propaganda'' in [[Secularity|secular]] activities.<ref name="Diggs-Brown2011p48"/> In English, the cognate began taking a pejorative or negative connotation in the mid-19th century, when it was used in the political sphere.<ref name="Diggs-Brown2011p48"/>

Non-English cognates of ''propaganda'' as well as some similar non-English terms retain neutral or positive connotations. For example, in official party discourse, ''[[xuanchuan]]'' is treated as a more neutral or positive term, though it can be used pejoratively through protest or other informal settings within China.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Edney |first=Kingsley |url=https://archive.org/details/globalizationofc0000edne/page/22/mode/1up?view=theater |title=The Globalization of Chinese Propaganda |date=2014 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US |isbn=978-1-349-47990-0 |location=New York |pages=22–24, 195 |language=en |doi=10.1057/9781137382153 |quote=Outside the realm of official discourse, however, propaganda (xuanchuan), is occasionally used in a negative way...(p. 195)}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Lin |first=Chunfeng |title=Red Tourism in China: Commodification of Propaganda |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2023 |isbn=9781032139609}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=4–6}}