conversion

[ kuhn-vur-zhuhn, -shuhn ]

noun

1. the act or process of converting; state of being converted.
2. a change in character, form, or function.
3. a change from one religion, political belief, viewpoint, etc., to another.
4. a thoroughgoing spiritual change that involves repentance and a turn toward God or right living.
5. a change of attitude, emotion, or viewpoint from one of indifference, disbelief, or antagonism to one of acceptance, faith, or enthusiastic support, especially such a change in a person's religion.
6. a physical transformation from one material or state to another:

   conversion of coal, water, and air into nylon.

7. the act of obtaining equivalent value, as of money or units of measurement, in an exchange or calculation:

   conversion of yen into dollars.

8. a physical, structural, or design change or transformation from one state or condition to another, especially to effect a change in function:

   conversion of a freighter into a passenger liner.

9. a substitution of one component for another so as to effect a change:

   conversion from oil heat to gas heat.

10. Mathematics. a change in the form or units of an expression.
11. Logic. the transposition of the subject and predicate of a proposition, as “No good man is unhappy” becomes by conversion “No unhappy man is good.”
12. Law.
    1. unauthorized assumption and exercise of rights of ownership over personal property belonging to another.
    2. a change from realty into personalty, or vice versa, as in the sale or purchase of land or the mining of coal.
13. Football. a score made on a try for a point after touchdown by place-kicking or drop-kicking the ball over the bar between the goalposts or by completing a pass in or running the ball into the end zone.
14. Psychoanalysis. the process by which a repressed psychic event, idea, feeling, memory, or impulse is represented by a bodily change or symptom.
15. Physics. the production of radioactive material in a process in which one nuclear fuel is converted into another by the capture of neutrons. Compare breeding ( def 6 ).
16. Digital Technology. a performance metric for a website that counts the percentage of visitors that engage in the intended purpose of the site, as making a purchase or signing a petition:

    The site was redesigned to simplify user interactions and optimize conversion.

17. Computers.
    1. Also called data conversion. the act or process of transferring data from one format into another.
    2. Also called media conversion. the act of transferring or copying stored data from one storage medium to another.
    3. porting ¹( def ).
    4. Also called system conversion. the change from an existing computer system to a new computer system.
    5. the process of changing the base that a number or numbers are written in.
18. the transformation of material from a form suitable for printing by one process to a form suitable for another process:

    a halftone gravure conversion.

conversion

/ kənˈvɜːʃən /

noun

1. 1. a change or adaptation in form, character, or function
   2. something changed in one of these respects
2. a change to another attitude or belief, as in a change of religion
3. maths a change in the units or form of a number or expression

   the conversion of miles to kilometres involves multiplying by 1.61

4. logic a form of inference by which one proposition is obtained as the converse of another proposition
5. law
   1. unauthorized dealing with or the assumption of rights of ownership to another's personal property
   2. the changing of real property into personalty or personalty into realty
6. rugby a score made after a try by kicking the ball over the crossbar from a place kick
7. physics a change of fertile material to fissile material in a reactor
8. 1. an alteration to a car engine to improve its performance
   2. ( as modifier )

      a conversion kit

9. material alteration to the structure or fittings of a building undergoing a change in function or legal status
10. the unauthorized appropriation of a motor vehicle

Derived Forms

• conˈversional, adjective

Other Words From

• con·ver·sion·al con·ver·sion·ar·y [k, uh, n-, vur, -zh, uh, -ner-ee, -sh, uh, -], adjective
• non·con·ver·sion noun
• pre·con·ver·sion noun
• sem·i·con·ver·sion noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of conversion¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English conversio(u)n from Anglo-French, from Latin conversiōn- (stem of conversiō ) “a turning around, revolution”; converse ², -ion

Word History and Origins

Origin of conversion¹

C14: from Latin conversiō a turning around; see convert

Example Sentences

Trump "might as well give Liz Cheney the State Department," he wrote, possibly referring to Cheney and Rubio's shared support for American power projection or comparing Cheney's opposition to Trump with Rubio's uneasy conversion since the 2016 GOP presidential primaries.

From Salon

Paxton is a sweet and eager missionary born into the faith; Barnes joined by way of her mother’s conversion and seems a bit more streetwise.

From Los Angeles Times

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the planning application to convert the office block on Croft Road into 139 flats was approved by Bradford Council in 2021, with work on its conversion starting late last year.

From BBC

Marcus Smith's touchline conversion from the Northampton wing's second try put England into a 30-28 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.

From BBC

Pollard’s conversion made it 19-9 to South Africa.

From BBC

Related Words

• alteration
• changeover
• growth
• modification
• reconstruction
• reorganization
• switch
• transformation