inverter
|in-ver-ter|
🇺🇸
/ɪnˈvɝːtər/
🇬🇧
/ɪnˈvɜːtə(r)/
to turn or reverse
Etymology
'inverter' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'invertere', where the prefix 'in-' meant 'in, into' and 'vertere' meant 'to turn'.
'inverter' developed from the verb 'invert' (from Latin 'invertere' via Late Latin/Old French influence) and the modern English agent noun was formed by adding the suffix '-er' to the verb 'invert'.
Initially it meant 'to turn or turn upside down', and over time it came to be used both for the action of reversing and for devices/components that perform such reversal (e.g., electrical inverters, logic inverters).
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
an electrical device that converts direct current (DC) into alternating current (AC), commonly used with solar panels, batteries, and uninterruptible power supplies.
The solar panels supply DC power to the inverter, which converts it to AC for household appliances.
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Noun 2
a device or component that reverses or negates a signal, orientation, or function (e.g., a logic inverter/NOT gate that outputs the opposite logic level).
A NOT gate is a simple logic inverter: when the input is 1, the output is 0.
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Last updated: 2025/10/05 02:38