convert
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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converts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
converted,
past participle, past
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converting
present participle
-
to change (something) into a different form or properties; transmute; transform.
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to cause to adopt a different religion, political doctrine, opinion, etc..
to convert the heathen.
- Synonyms:
- proselytize
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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.
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to modify (something) so as to serve a different function.
to convert an automobile factory to the manufacture of tanks.
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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.
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Finance. to exchange voluntarily (a bond or preferred stock) into another security, usually common stock, because of the greater value of the latter.
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to change in character; cause to turn from an evil life to a righteous one.
to convert a criminal.
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Chemistry. to cause (a substance) to undergo a chemical change.
to convert sugar into alcohol.
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to invert or transpose.
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Law.
-
to assume unlawful rights of ownership of (personal property).
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to change the form of (property), as from realty to personalty or vice versa.
-
-
to appropriate wrongfully to one's own use.
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Logic. to transpose the subject and predicate of (a proposition) by conversion.
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Computers. to subject to conversion.
verb (used without object)
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converts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
converted,
past participle, past
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converting
present participle
-
to become converted.
-
Football. to make a conversion.
noun
verb
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to change or adapt the form, character, or function of; transform
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to cause (someone) to change in opinion, belief, etc
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to change (a person or his way of life, etc) for the better
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(intr) to admit of being changed (into)
the table converts into a tray
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(also intr) to change or be changed into another chemical compound or physical state
to convert water into ice
-
law
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to assume unlawful proprietary rights over (personal property)
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to change (property) from realty into personalty or vice versa
-
-
(also intr) rugby to make a conversion after (a try)
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logic to transpose the subject and predicate of (a proposition) by conversion
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to change (a value or measurement) from one system of units to another
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to exchange (a security or bond) for something of equivalent value
noun
Synonym Usage
See transform.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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convertsimple
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convertssimple
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have convertedperfect
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has convertedperfect
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am convertingprogressive
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are convertingprogressive
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is convertingprogressive
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have been convertingperfect progressive
-
has been convertingperfect progressive
Past
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convertedsimple
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had convertedperfect
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was convertingprogressive
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were convertingprogressive
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had been convertingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of convert1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English verb converten, from Latin convertere “to change completely,” equivalent to con- intensive prefix + vertere “to turn”; noun convert replacing converse, Middle English convers, ultimately from Latin conversus; see also converse 2, verse 1
Origin of convert2
By shortening of convertible
Explanation
Think of the word convert as meaning "change," whether it is a person who adopts a new belief, or a changing action, such as when you convert dollars into euros. Many times we can catch a word's meaning by looking at its origins. In this case, the Latin con means "around," while vertere means "turn." So we can figure that convert means to "turn around," an object or one's thoughts on an idea. For example, you might convert a meat eater into a vegetarian or an empty-nester might convert the kids' bedroom into an exercise room.
Vocabulary lists containing convert
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
These extremely energetic collisions convert tremendous amounts of energy into thousands of newly created particles.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
“It’s a test, really, of whether the state can govern well enough to convert that population into productivity.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Malaga equalised in the last minute of normal time, when defender Calvin Bassey was penalised for a handball that allowed Eneko Jauregi to convert from the penalty spot to make it 2-2.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
But there are reasons to convert from monthly to annual, for example to figure out whether the annual rate is running above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
“Are they trying to convert him to straight or something?”
From "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson
During the reaction, sodium hydroxide captures carbon released from the plastics and converts it into solid sodium carbonate.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026
Three days after the executive order, the White House implemented the order through National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, which converts the fiction into machinery.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
Nesma El-Areef, senior marketing and sales manager at Uflex Egypt, which converts plastic waste into new packaging materials, said demand for the company's recycled products rose by up to 40 percent.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
Vulcan converts those oxides into metals and finished magnets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
There was Crazy Mary, whose family were Christian converts.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
Caterpillar converted another plant in Kansas to produce turbine engines popular with data centers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Yet the bigger squeeze in energy markets is unfolding further downstream in the world’s refineries, where crude is converted into the fuels that power the global economy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
From there, the couple relocated to the Highland Gardens, a hotel in Raman’s district converted into homeless housing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
It is a sentiment shared by new goalkeeping recruit Jacob Chapman, whose penalty save early in the second half laid the platform before Killian Phillips converted from the spot.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
He had converted most of the two-story barn in Montclair into a photographic laboratory.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Women's prisons are also less secure than male prisons, so converting them would not be a quick or simple task.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
He prefers companies converting AI demand into orders and recurring revenue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Connecting the combustion chamber to a turbine and converting its intense combustion into electricity created an additional engineering challenge.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
Langley is even converting fans who don’t usually listen to her genre—she recently became the first woman in history to land three country songs in the Hot 100’s top four spots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
She must be mad at me for not converting to electricity, or because I don’t like her stone-lined paths.
From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
