Pioneering or innovative in a way that opens up new possibilities or establishes new standards. Originally literal, referring to the ceremonial first digging for a construction project.
Compound formed from 'ground' and 'breaking,' initially used literally for construction ceremonies in the early 20th century. The metaphorical sense of 'innovative' or 'pioneering' developed by mid-century, drawing on the imagery of breaking new ground.
The evolution from literal ground-breaking ceremonies to describing innovative ideas shows how physical metaphors become intellectual ones - we still think of new ideas as requiring us to 'dig deeper' and 'break new ground,' even in entirely abstract domains.
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