reversion

[ ri-vur-zhuhn, -shuhn ]

noun

1. the act of turning something the reverse way.
2. the state of being so turned; reversal.
3. the act of reverting; return to a former practice, belief, condition, etc.
4. Biology.
   1. reappearance of ancestral characters that have been absent in intervening generations.
   2. return to an earlier or primitive type; atavism.
5. Law.
   1. the returning of an estate to the grantor or the grantor's heirs after the interest granted expires.
   2. an estate which so returns.
   3. the right of succeeding to an estate.
6. Archaic. the remains, especially of food or drink after a meal.

reversion

/ rɪˈvɜːʃən /

noun

1. a return to or towards an earlier condition, practice, or belief; act of reverting
2. the act of reversing or the state of being reversed; reversal
3. biology
   1. the return of individuals, organs, etc, to a more primitive condition or type
   2. the reappearance of primitive characteristics in an individual or group
4. property law
   1. an interest in an estate that reverts to the grantor or his heirs at the end of a period, esp at the end of the life of a grantee
   2. an estate so reverting
   3. the right to succeed to such an estate
5. the benefit payable on the death of a life-insurance policyholder

Derived Forms

• reˈversionary, adjective
• reˈversionally, adverb

Other Words From

• re·version·al·ly adverb
• nonre·version noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of reversion¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin reversiōn- (stem of reversiō ) a turning back. See reverse, -ion

Example Sentences

The 11% reversion rate was more than three times the percentage that had been reverted in the previous year.

From Los Angeles Times

It happened because an entire Potemkin village of originalist academics, originalist law-review articles, originalist theories—chiefly funded by very contemporary oligarchs—was built up to present it as a reversion to the way things always were, as opposed to a revanchist attack on modernity itself; an attack on the common law itself and an assault on the idea of a pluralist, expansive vision of liberty.

From Slate

No further change or reversion can be made within 12 months of an application being granted.

From BBC

It is simply the case that for a whole lot of emboldened lawyers and legislators, the end of Roe means a reversion to the abortion landscape of the Civil War era.

From Slate

So the militarized nationalism of today’s Zionists can be understood as another such reversion, reinforced in 2018 by the Knesset’s "Basic Law" declaring that Israel is “the Nation-State of the Jewish People,” and greatly diminishing it as a liberal democracy.

From Salon