invert

[ verb in-vurt; adjective noun in-vurt ]

verb (used with object)

1. to turn upside down.
2. to reverse in position, order, direction, or relationship.
3. to turn or change to the opposite or contrary, as in nature, bearing, or effect:

   to invert a process.

4. to turn inward or back upon itself.
5. to turn inside out.
6. Chemistry. to subject to a reaction in which a starting material of one optical configuration forms a product of the opposite configuration.
7. Music. to subject to musical inversion, the transposition between the upper voice part and the lower.
8. Phonetics. to articulate as a retroflex vowel.

verb (used without object)

1. Chemistry. to undergo a reaction in which a starting material of one optical configuration forms a product of the opposite configuration.

adjective

1. Chemistry. subjected to a reaction in which a starting material of one optical configuration forms a product of the opposite configuration.

noun

1. a person or thing that is reversed in position, changed to the contrary, or turned upside down, inside out, or inward.
2. (in plumbing) that portion of the interior of a drain or sewer pipe where the liquid is deepest.
3. a U-shaped arch or vault, having the opposite vertical orientation compared to a traditional arch or vault.
4. Philately. a two-colored postage stamp with all or part of the central design printed upside down in relation to the inscription.
5. Psychiatry. (no longer in technical use)
   1. a gay person.
   2. a person whose behavior is considered nonnormative for their assigned sex, historically involving both gender non-conforming or transgender expression and gay or lesbian sexual orientation.
6. Disparaging and Offensive. anyone whose sexuality or gender expression is regarded as strange or unnatural, especially a gay or transgender person.
7. Informal. (especially among aquarists) invertebrate:

   My invert tank is mostly sea slugs, but I bought a couple of shrimp recently also.

invert

verb

1. to turn or cause to turn upside down or inside out
2. tr to reverse in effect, sequence, direction, etc
3. tr phonetics
   1. to turn (the tip of the tongue) up and back
   2. to pronounce (a speech sound) by retroflexion
4. logic to form the inverse of a categorial proposition

noun

1. psychiatry
   1. a person who adopts the role of the opposite sex
   2. another word for homosexual
2. architect
   1. the lower inner surface of a drain, sewer, etc Compare soffit
   2. an arch that is concave upwards, esp one used in foundations

Derived Forms

• inˈvertible, adjective
• inˌvertiˈbility, noun

Other Words From

• in·vert·i·ble adjective
• non·in·vert·ed adjective
• un·in·vert·ed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of invert¹

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin invertere “to turn upside down or inside out,” equivalent to in- “in” + vertere “to turn”; in- ², verse

Word History and Origins

Origin of invert¹

C16: from Latin invertere, from in- ² + vertere to turn

Synonym Study

See reverse.

Example Sentences

Part of the holistic solution to this was his decision to invert the way suspensions worked in recent years, and especially how the suspension arm joins the wheel to the chassis.

From BBC

He said he was confident the decision to “invert the order of the steps” — putting the environmental review and development agreement before taking the question to voters — would lead to a better outcome.

From Los Angeles Times

In sum, neural data matched what was observed for the mouse movements in the behavioral experiments: negation does not invert the meaning of "hot" to "cold," but rather weakens or mitigates its representation along the semantic continuum between "cold" and "hot."

From Science Daily

“These characters are screaming into a world that doesn’t hear them, so why not invert the metaphor with a trio of deaf friends who are trying to be heard in this world?” said Desai, who will make his CTG directorial debut with the production.

From Los Angeles Times

Trump would invert our longstanding support for democracy and ally himself with Orbán and Putin against our old allies.

From Salon