English 'innovation' comes from Latin 'innovāre' (to make new into), from PIE *néwos (new) — but for most of its history it meant 'dangerous novelty' and was a term of political and religious condemnation, only acquiring its positive modern sense in the 20th century.
The introduction of something new; a new method, idea, or product.
From Latin 'innovātiōnem' (accusative of 'innovātiō'), the noun of action from 'innovāre' (to renew, to alter, to change by introducing something new), composed of 'in-' (into, on) + 'novāre' (to make new, to renew), from 'novus' (new), from PIE *néwos (new). The same root *néwos produced Greek 'neos' (νέος, new — whence 'neon,' 'neologism,' 'neonate'), Latin 'novus' (new — whence 'novel,' 'novelty,' 'renovate,' 'novice'), and English 'new' (via Proto-Germanic *neujaz). For most of its English history, 'innovation' carried strongly negative connotations — the dangerous introduction of novelty, especially in religion and politics. Francis Bacon complained in 1625 that 'it were good that men
For centuries, 'innovation' was an insult. In 1636, Henry Burton warned that 'innovation' was the work of the devil. Francis Bacon distrusted 'innovations' as threats to order. The word's transformation from a term of condemnation to the highest praise of the business world is itself one of the most dramatic semantic shifts in English.