inversions
|in-ver-sion|
🇺🇸
/ɪnˈvɝʒən/
🇬🇧
/ɪnˈvɜːʒən/
(inversion)
reversal
Etymology
'inversion' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'inversio', where the prefix 'in-' meant 'in, on, into, not (intensive or reversing)' and the root 'vertere' meant 'to turn'.
'inversio' passed into Late Latin/Old French and Middle English, appearing as forms such as Old French 'inversion' and Middle English 'inversion', and eventually became the modern English word 'inversion'.
Initially it meant 'a turning upside down' or 'a turning inward', and over time the core idea of 'turning or reversing' extended into technical senses in grammar, music, science, mathematics, and genetics, while retaining the original sense of reversal.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
a reversal of position, order, or relationship; turning something upside down or inside out.
The inversions of authority within the team caused confusion about responsibilities.
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Noun 2
a change in the normal order of words in a sentence (grammatical inversion), often used for emphasis or stylistic effect.
Poets often use inversions to achieve a particular rhythm or emphasis.
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Noun 3
in music, the repositioning of the notes of a chord so that a different chord tone is in the bass (a chord inversion).
The pianist smoothed the progression by using several inversions of the same chord.
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Noun 4
a meteorological condition in which a layer of warm air lies above cooler air near the ground (temperature inversion), often trapping pollution.
During winter, temperature inversions often trap pollutants close to the ground.
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Noun 5
in mathematics and geometry, an operation or mapping that sends points to their 'inverse' positions, or more generally a function that reverses another function (an inverse).
Inversions in geometry can map lines to circles and preserve certain angles.
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Noun 6
a chromosomal rearrangement in which a segment of a chromosome is reversed end to end (genetic inversion).
Certain genetic disorders are associated with inversions that disrupt gene order.
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Last updated: 2025/12/16 09:53