revert

American  

[ri-vurt] / rɪˈvɜrt /

verb (used without object)

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)

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

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

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

"Our findings reveal that aging in blood stem cells is not an irreversible fate. Old blood stem cells have the capacity to revert to a youthful state; they can bounce back," said Dr. Ghaffari.

From Science Daily • May 12, 2026

Musk is calling for OpenAI to revert to nonprofit status -- a move that would impact its position in the global artificial intelligence race against Anthropic, Google and China's Deepseek.

From Barron's • May 12, 2026

Still, she believes the community has come too far to revert to its old system.

From Salon • May 7, 2026

The S&P 500 would shed half its value if record-high corporate profit margins were to revert to their historical mean.

From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026

When it was all over, she would revert to her quietest and most cultured tone, speaking barely above a whisper.

From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals

Related Words

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