revert

American  

[ri-vurt] / rɪˈvɜrt /

verb (used without object)

• reverts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• reverted,
  past participle,  past
• reverting
  present participle

1. to return to a former habit, practice, belief, condition, etc..

   It wasn't so much that things had never changed, it was that people had reverted instead of moving forward.

   Synonyms:

   retrogress

2. Law. (of assets) to go back to or return to the former owner or to their heirs.

   After a certain number of years, ownership of the bridge reverts to the public.

3. Biology. to return to an earlier or primitive type.

   Synonyms:

   retrogress

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verb (used with object)

• reverts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• reverted,
  past participle,  past
• reverting
  present participle

1. to undo or roll back.

   The new version is a mess, but we should be able to revert the edits.

noun

1. an act or instance of returning to a former habit, practice, belief, condition, etc.; reversion.

   Now we are seeing a revert to a simpler writing style that grabs our attention instantly.

2. a person or thing that goes back to a previous state or condition, especially a previous religion (often used attributively).

   We offer a course for revert Muslims.

   She was a revert who left the church and came back a decade later.

3. Law. a reversion.

verb phrase

1. revert to

   1. to return or go back to a previous state or condition.

      After that, I stopped riding the bus and reverted to my old car-driving ways.

   2. to go back in thought or discussion.

      He constantly reverted to stories from his childhood.

revert British  

verb

1. to go back to a former practice, condition, belief, etc

   she reverted to her old wicked ways

2. to take up again or come back to a former topic

3. biology (of individuals, organs, etc) to return to a more primitive, earlier, or simpler condition or type

4. to reply to someone

   we will revert to you with pricing and other details

5. property law (of an estate or interest in land) to return to its former owner or his heirs when a grant, esp a grant for the lifetime of the grantee, comes to an end

6. to resume characteristics that were thought to have disappeared

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noun

1. a person who, having been converted, has returned to his former beliefs or Church

Usage

Since back is part of the meaning of revert , one should not say that someone reverts back to a certain type of behaviour

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• reverter
  noun
• revertibility
  noun
• nonrevertible
  adjective
• nonrevertive
  adjective
• revertible
  adjective
• revertive
  adjective
• unreverted
  adjective
• unrevertible
  adjective
• unreverting
  adjective
• revertively
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• reverting
  present
• reverted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• revert
  simple
• reverts
  simple
• have reverted
  perfect
• has reverted
  perfect
• am reverting
  progressive
• are reverting
  progressive
• is reverting
  progressive
• have been reverting
  perfect progressive
• has been reverting
  perfect progressive

Past

• reverted
  simple
• had reverted
  perfect
• was reverting
  progressive
• were reverting
  progressive
• had been reverting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will revert
  simple
• will have reverted
  perfect
• will be reverting
  progressive
• will have been reverting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of revert

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English reverten, from Old French revertir, Anglo-French reverter, from Latin revertere “to turn back,” from re- re- + vertere “to turn” ( cf. verse)

Explanation

While revert means to return to something earlier or to go back, it's often used wrongly in combination. If you're buying the older version of the game, you might say you're "reverting back," which is like saying "go back back." Revert has been around since the early 14th century, and it has changed little in meaning from the original "turn back" and "return." You can revert to a simpler way of life or revert to bad behavior. Software users might revert to an older version of a program with fewer bugs. Though rare in modern use, some international English speakers do use "revert back" for "reply" in writing and e-mail, but most of the time, using revert with "back" is redundant, or repetitive.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

revert reverts reverted reverting

Wall Street took a break Thursday from worrying about interest rates and inflation to revert to a tried-and-true investment idea: snapping up shares of companies tied to artificial intelligence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

"People may revert to their prior behavioural patterns because the incentive payments are insufficient when the enthusiasm has waned," said Ferraro, an expert in human behaviour and public policy.

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

To begin the repair process, mature liver cells revert toward a fetal-like progenitor state.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026

The law does not mandate the Angels — playing under a Los Angeles name in Anaheim’s city-owned stadium — revert to the Anaheim Angels name.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

When I’m by myself I revert to the times when I would forget about eating, stay up all night working, go until I felt an odd sensation I’d identify after some thought as hunger.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

Whether the baseball team that calls Angel Stadium home reverts to its hometown name remains to be seen.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

Second, it is unclear whether the Strait of Hormuz reverts to an international waterway—the transit for a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil—or whether it remains under the control of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard.

From Slate ● Jun. 15, 2026

But the movie needs him to be the baddie, so he reverts to evildoing for no apparent reason.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026

Judges do not want to see reverts, where a trick has landed but the board is still spinning.

From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026

She has virtually no accent until she talks to a Texan, when she instantly reverts.

From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck

Trump additionally reverted the name of Denali, North America's highest peak, to its former moniker Mt.

From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026

I’ve reverted to Google searches because I want a straightforward answer without stylistic flourish.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

He said, due to the former presence of greenhouses on the land, which then were destroyed and buried under a layer of top soil, it was reverted to agricultural designation.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

For the memorial game, the Feeneys had reverted to their old batting order, so after Greenberg, the lineup would be wholly composed of Feeney elders.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

In the past few days Clara had reverted to her visionary tasks, speaking with apparitions and spending hours writing in her notebooks.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

Cyclical businesses don’t tend to revert to normal, often reverting to losses, and so he argues, “the time to buy a cyclical business is when they’re making losses, not when they’re making super profits.”

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026

Yet she argues those moments are often temporary, with Islanders reverting "back to the expected gender roles".

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

“A temporary break of ceasefire does not mean that the market is going to think we’re reverting to March, April conflict levels,” Doshi said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

“I’ve lost more than 100 people from my family alone,” she said, her voice rising in anger for a moment before reverting to the monotone she normally spoke in.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2026

“Well,” Ube said, his face reverting to its usual lightness, “if it’s knowledge y’all want, then you came to the right place.”

From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi

Related Words

• degenerate
• go back
• hark back
• react
• regress
• turn back