convert

[verb kuh n-vurt; noun kon-vurt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR convert ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to change (something) into a different form or properties; transmute; transform.

to cause to adopt a different religion, political doctrine, opinion, etc.: to convert the heathen.

to turn to another or a particular use or purpose; divert from the original or intended use: They converted the study into a nursery for the baby.

to modify (something) so as to serve a different function: to convert an automobile factory to the manufacture of tanks.

to obtain an equivalent value for in an exchange or calculation, as money or units of measurement: to convert bank notes into gold; to convert yards into meters.

Finance. to exchange voluntarily (a bond or preferred stock) into another security, usually common stock, because of the greater value of the latter.

to change in character; cause to turn from an evil life to a righteous one: to convert a criminal.

Chemistry. to cause (a substance) to undergo a chemical change: to convert sugar into alcohol.

to invert or transpose.

Law.

to assume unlawful rights of ownership of (personal property).
to change the form of (property), as from realty to personalty or vice versa.

to appropriate wrongfully to one's own use.

Logic. to transpose the subject and predicate of (a proposition) by conversion.

Computers. to subject to conversion.

verb (used without object)

to become converted.

Football. to make a conversion.

noun

one who has been converted, as to a religion or opinion.

Origin of convert

1250–1300; Middle English converten < Latin convertere to change completely, equivalent to con- con- + vertere to turn round (see verse); convert (noun) replacing converse, Middle English convers (< Anglo-French) < Latin; see converse²

Related formscon·ver·tive, adjective

Synonyms for convert

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR convert ON THESAURUS.COM

1. See transform. 2. proselytize. 16. proselyte, neophyte, disciple.

convert

[kon-vurt]

noun Informal.

a convertible automobile.

a convertible bond.

Origin of convert

by shortening of convertible

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for convert

follower, disciple, reorganize, modify, transform, turn, switch, download, apply, translate, remodel, move, bring, lead, save, proselyte, novitiate, novice, neophyte, catechumen

Examples from the Web for convert

Contemporary Examples of convert

There is also “other” and “willing to convert” (more on those categories later).
My Week on Jewish Tinder
Emily Shire
January 5, 2015
This 18-hour trip was in a less nice room, but one that had two seats that convert into a bed.
Accusations Pile Up on Top D.C. Rabbi Barry Freundel
Steven I. Weiss
October 15, 2014
Be a good citizen, and heaven awaits; fail to convert and lead a moral life, burn in hell.
Americans’ Burning Obsession With Hell
William O’Connor
September 26, 2014
“The two most dangerous types of people are poor who become rich and those who convert to Islam,” observed one man from Snuny.
On the Ground, Collaborators With ISIS Could Be Its Big Weakness
Christine van den Toorn
August 30, 2014
In the last conversation, now, several days ago, the girls said they had been told to convert to Islam or die.
Hanifa's Story: Her Five Sisters Taken by ISIS to Be Sold or Worse
Christine van den Toorn
August 19, 2014

Historical Examples of convert

Much of it, apparently, he will convert into that champagne he now drinks.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
Think of a slave trying to convert a free man to a slave religion.
The Foolish Lovers
St. John G. Ervine
And to think that Rachel and I wasted our time trying to convert him!
It Happened in Egypt
C. N. Williamson
So once more, as in 1886, they--the preacher and his convert--are together.
A Writer's Recollections (In Two Volumes), Volume II
Mrs. Humphry Ward
Those who denied a Divine Redeemer were not likely to convert a world.
The Formation of Christendom, Volume VI
Thomas W. (Thomas William) Allies

British Dictionary definitions for convert

convert

verb (kənˈvɜːt) (mainly tr)

to change or adapt the form, character, or function of; transform

to cause (someone) to change in opinion, belief, etc

to change (a person or his way of life, etc) for the better

(intr) to admit of being changed (into)the table converts into a tray

(also intr) to change or be changed into another chemical compound or physical stateto convert water into ice

law

to assume unlawful proprietary rights over (personal property)
to change (property) from realty into personalty or vice versa

(also intr) rugby to make a conversion after (a try)

logic to transpose the subject and predicate of (a proposition) by conversion

to change (a value or measurement) from one system of units to another

to exchange (a security or bond) for something of equivalent value

noun (ˈkɒnvɜːt)

a person who has been converted to another belief, religion, etc

Derived Formsconvertive, adjective

Word Origin for convert

C13: from Old French convertir, from Latin convertere to turn around, alter, transform, from vertere to turn

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for convert

c.1300, from Old French convertir, from Vulgar Latin *convertire, from Latin convertere "turn around, transform," from com- "together" (see com-) + vertere "to turn" (see versus). Originally in the religious sense. The Latin word is glossed in Old English by gecyrren, from cierran "to turn, return." Related: Converted; converting.

1560s, from convert (v.). Earlier was convers (early 14c.).