inversion

[ in-vur-zhuhn, -shuhn ]

/ ɪnˈvɜr ʒən, -ʃən /

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noun

an act or instance of inverting.

the state of being inverted.

anything that is inverted.

Rhetoric. reversal of the usual or natural order of words; anastrophe.

Grammar. any change from a basic word order or syntactic sequence, as in the placement of a subject after an auxiliary verb in a question or after the verb in an exclamation, as “When will you go?” and “How beautiful is the rose!”

Anatomy, Pathology. the turning inward of a part, as the foot.

Chemistry.

a hydrolysis of certain carbohydrates, as cane sugar, that results in a reversal of direction of the rotatory power of the carbohydrate solution, the plane of polarized light being bent from right to left or vice versa.
a reaction in which a starting material of one optical configuration forms a product of the opposite configuration.

Music.

the process or result of transposing the tones of an interval or chord so that the original bass becomes an upper voice.
(in counterpoint) the transposition of the upper voice part below the lower, and vice versa.
presentation of a melody in contrary motion to its original form.

Psychiatry. (no longer in technical use)

gay sexual orientation.
assumption and display of the normative perspective, manner, or behavior of a sex different from one's own.

Genetics. a type of chromosomal aberration in which the position of a segment of the chromosome is changed in such a way that the linear order of the genes is reversed.Compare chromosomal aberration.

Phonetics. retroflexion (def. 3).

Also called at·mos·pher·ic in·ver·sion

[at-muhs-fer-ik in-vur-zhuhn], /ˌæt məsˈfɛr ɪk ɪnˈvɜr ʒən/, temperature inversion. Meteorology. a reversal in the normal temperature lapse rate, the temperature rising with increased elevation instead of falling.

Electricity. a converting of direct current into alternating current.

Mathematics. the operation of forming the inverse of a point, curve, function, etc.

adjective

pertaining to or associated with inversion therapy or the apparatus used in it: inversion boots.

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Origin of inversion

First recorded in 1545–55; from Latin inversiōn- (stem of inversiō ) “a turning in”; see inverse, -ion

Words nearby inversion

inverse cotangent, inverse function, inverse image, inversely, inverse square law, inversion, inversion casting, inversion layer, inversion of uterus, inversion therapy, inversion, thermal

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use inversion in a sentence

With a strong rotation and a better-than-expected lineup, the Reds are following an inversion of the Padres’ trajectory, having won 18 of their last 26 dating back to late July.
What Happened To This Once-Promising Padres Season?|Neil Paine (neil.paine@fivethirtyeight.com)|August 24, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
That said, this kind of results inversion doesn’t happen very often.
What Did New York’s Mayoral Primary Tell Us About Ranked-Choice Voting?|Sarah Frostenson (sarah.frostenson@abc.com)|July 7, 2021|FiveThirtyEight
In a dizzying inversion, Francoist courts found that it was the liberal government, not the insurrectionists, who had betrayed Spain, and that supporting the government was illegal.
My Father Fled Fascism in Spain—and Taught Me How Lies Can Destroy a Democracy|Sebastian Junger|May 19, 2021|Time
Once your opponent has been classified as not just wrong but evil, a kind of moral inversion occurs where the worse you act, the more noble you are.
My Father Fled Fascism in Spain—and Taught Me How Lies Can Destroy a Democracy|Sebastian Junger|May 19, 2021|Time

More to the point, the TV network owners need to prop up their streaming properties as the dynamic between linear TV and streaming’s roles approaches a point of inversion.
How this year’s NewFronts factors into the upfront fight for streaming ad dollars|Tim Peterson|May 3, 2021|Digiday
This is the kind of inversion of history that conservatives attack when perpetrated by the left.
The Conservatives' Great Black Hope|Evan Gahr|May 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And so Tea Party populism is actually a complete inversion of political and economic reality.
‘Hunger Games’ Is a Tea Party Dystopia|Jay Michaelson|December 5, 2013|DAILY BEAST
In other words, he was an inversion of the gay maxim “Butch on the streets, queen in the sheets,” a.k.a. “a top.”
A Millennial’s Guide to Liberace|Sean Macaulay|May 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
This is an inversion of the basic principle of democracy: that elections are won by the candidate who gets the most votes.
Republicans’ Nefarious Election Ploy|John Avlon|January 27, 2013|DAILY BEAST
This is essentially the argument made in Alan Ehrenhalt's The Great Inversion, which I highly recommend to you.
What Is Going On in The DC Housing Market?|Megan McArdle|September 28, 2012|DAILY BEAST
May not the construction be better taken as a simple, though to our ears cumbrous, inversion of, So I heard them not?
The Fatal Dowry|Philip Massinger
What is remarkable in the scenery is, that its sublimity is an inversion of the sublimity of almost all other grand scenery.
Overland|John William De Forest
Inversion is a figure intended to give emphasis to the thought by a change from the natural order of the words in a sentence.
English: Composition and Literature|W. F. (William Franklin) Webster
A lusty inversion of the order of the names and an Oberland jodel returned his hail.
Lord Ormont and his Aminta, Complete|George Meredith
He sometimes soothed his harassed spirit, and consoled himself for his failures, by an odd inversion of common hopes.
The Open Question|Elizabeth Robins

British Dictionary definitions for inversion

inversion

/ (ɪnˈvɜːʃən) /

noun

the act of inverting or state of being inverted

something inverted, esp a reversal of order, mutual functions, etcan inversion of their previous relationship

Also called: anastrophe rhetoric the reversal of a normal order of words

chem

the conversion of a dextrorotatory solution of sucrose into a laevorotatory solution of glucose and fructose by hydrolysis
any similar reaction in which the optical properties of the reactants are opposite to those of the products

music

the process or result of transposing the notes of a chord (esp a triad) such that the root, originally in the bass, is placed in an upper part. When the bass note is the third of the triad, the resulting chord is the first inversion; when it is the fifth, the resulting chord is the second inversionSee also root position
(in counterpoint) the modification of a melody or part in which all ascending intervals are replaced by corresponding descending intervals and vice versa
the modification of an interval in which the higher note becomes the lower or the lower one the higherSee complement (def. 8)

pathol abnormal positioning of an organ or part, as in being upside down or turned inside out

psychiatry

the adoption of the role or characteristics of the opposite sex
another word for homosexuality

meteorol an abnormal condition in which the layer of air next to the earth's surface is cooler than an overlying layer

anatomy phonetics another word for retroflexion (def. 2)

computing an operation by which each digit of a binary number is changed to the alternative digit, as 10110 to 01001

genetics a type of chromosomal mutation in which a section of a chromosome, and hence the order of its genes, is reversed

logic the process of deriving the inverse of a categorial proposition

maths a transformation that takes a point P to a point P ′ such that OP·OP ′ = a ², where a is a constant and P and P ′ lie on a straight line through a fixed point O and on the same side of it

Derived forms of inversion

inversive, adjective

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

Medical definitions for inversion

inversion

[ ĭn-vûr′zhən ]

The act of inverting or the state of being inverted.

Conversion of a substance in which the direction of optical rotation is reversed.

The taking on of the gender role of the opposite sex.

A chromosomal defect in which a segment of the chromosome breaks off and reattaches in the reverse direction.

Scientific definitions for inversion

inversion

[ ĭn-vûr′zhən ]

A departure from the normal effect of altitude on a meteorological property, especially an atmospheric condition in which the air temperature rises with increasing altitude.♦ A layer of air that is warmer than the air below it is called an inversion layer. Such a layer traps the surface air in place and prevents dispersion of any pollutants it contains.

inversion

Origin of inversion

Words nearby inversion

Words related to inversion

How to use inversion in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for inversion

Derived forms of inversion

Medical definitions for inversion

Scientific definitions for inversion