invert (v.)

"to turn (something) in an opposite direction; reverse the position, order, or sequence of," 1530s, from French invertir or directly from Latin invertere "turn upside down, turn about; upset, reverse, transpose," figuratively "pervert, corrupt, misrepresent," of words, "to use ironically," from in- "in, on" (from PIE root *en "in") + vertere "to turn" (from PIE root *wer- (2) "to turn, bend"). Related: Inverted; inverting; invertedly.

also from 1530s

Entries linking to invert

inverse (adj.)

"turned in the opposite direction, having an opposite course or tendency," in early use also enverse, mid-15c., from Latin inversus, past participle of invertere "turn about, turn upside-down, upset, reverse, invert" (see invert). Related: Inversely. As a noun, "inverted state or condition," 1680s, from the adjective.

inversion (n.)

1550s, "act of inverting;" 1590s, "state of being inverted," from Latin inversionem (nominative inversio) "an inversion," noun of action from past participle stem of invertere "turn about, turn upside-down" (see invert). Meteorological sense is from 1902. In old psychology, "homosexuality" (1895, short for sexual inversion) but in later psychology "identification with the opposite sex" (1958).

*en

*wer-

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Trends of invert

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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reverse

c. 1300, "opposite, contrary in position or direction, turned backward," from Old French revers "reverse, cross, opposite" (13c.) and directly from Latin reversus, past participle of revertere "turn back, turn about, come back, return" (see revert). In reference to a gear mechani

reverse

preposterous

English also had a verb preposterate "to make preposterous, pervert, invert." Related: Preposterously; preposterousness....

alert

"on the watch," 1610s, from French alerte "vigilant" (17c.), from prepositional phrase à l'erte "on the watch," from Italian all'erta "to the height." The second element is from erta "lookout, high tower," noun use of fem. of erto, past participle of ergere "raise up," from Latin

alter

late 14c., "to change (something), make different in some way," from Old French alterer "to change, alter," from Medieval Latin alterare "to change," from Latin alter "the other (of the two)," from PIE root *al- (1) "beyond" + comparative suffix -ter (as in other). Intransitive s

change

c. 1200, "to alter, make different, change" (transitive); early 13c. as "to substitute one for another;" mid-13c. as "to make (something) other than what it was, cause to turn or pass from one state to another;" from late 13c. as "to become different, be altered" (intransitive),

modify

late 14c., modifien, "alter, amend, adjust, change the properties, form, or function of;" also "set limits, keep within the bounds of reason; choose a middle course," from Old French modifier (14c.), from Latin modificare "to limit, measure off, restrain," from modus "measure, ma

reserve

mid-14c., "keep back or in store for future use;" late 14c., "keep as one's own," from Old French reserver "set aside, withhold" (12c.) and directly from Latin reservare "keep back, save up; retain, preserve," from re- "back" (see re-) + servare "to keep, save, preserve, protect"

turn

late Old English turnian "to rotate, revolve," in part also from Old French torner "to turn away or around; draw aside, cause to turn; change, transform; turn on a lathe" (Modern French tourner), both from Latin tornare "to polish, round off, fashion, turn on a lathe," from tornu

back

Old English bæc "back," from Proto-Germanic *bakam (cognates: Old Saxon and Middle Dutch bak, Old Frisian bek), with no known connections outside Germanic. In other modern Germanic languages the cognates mostly have been ousted in this sense by words akin to Modern English ridge

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updated on December 08, 2020

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Dictionary entries near invert

inventory

inveracity

Inverness

inverse

inversion

invert

invertebrate

invest

investigable

investigate

investigation