reversibility
|re-vers-i-bi-li-ty|
🇺🇸
/rɪˌvɜrsəˈbɪlɪti/
🇬🇧
/rɪˌvɜːsəˈbɪlɪti/
can be turned back
Etymology
'reversibility' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'revertere', where 're-' meant 'back' and 'vertere' meant 'to turn'.
'reversibility' changed from Late Latin 'reversibilis' and Medieval/Modern French 'reversibilité' and eventually became the modern English word 'reversibility' via borrowings in scientific and legal usage.
Initially, it meant 'the ability to be turned back' in a literal sense, but over time it evolved to include technical senses such as 'the property of a process being reversible' in thermodynamics and 'invertibility' in mathematics.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the quality or state of being reversible; able to be reversed or undone.
The reversibility of the decision meant the committee could change course if new evidence emerged.
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Noun 2
in thermodynamics and physical chemistry, the property of a process that can be reversed without net change to the system and surroundings (ideally no net entropy production).
Ideal engines are often analyzed assuming the reversibility of the processes involved.
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Noun 3
in mathematics and computing, the property of a function, operation, or transformation of having an inverse (being invertible).
The reversibility of the mapping guarantees that each output corresponds to a unique input.
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Last updated: 2025/08/28 21:49