convert
/kənˈvɝt/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.11 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To transform or change (something) into another form, substance, state, or product.
Transitive verb
verb
To induce (someone) to adopt a particular religion, faith, ideology or belief (see also sense 12).
Transitive verb
verb
To express (a unit of measurement) in terms of another; to furnish a mathematical formula by which a quantity, expressed in the former unit, may be given in the latter.
Transitive verb
verb
To appropriate wrongfully or unlawfully; to commit the common law tort of conversion.
Transitive verb
verb
To score extra points after (a try) by completing a conversion.
Example Sentences
- "A kettle converts water into steam."
- "1684-1690, Thomas Burnet, Sacred Theory of the Earth if the whole atmosphere were converted into water"
- "That ſtill leſſens / The ſorrow, and converts it nigh to joy."
- "Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: the ability to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and waste oxygen using solar energy."
- "And the deff's further sayen that after the said b'gayn the said lambert compounded wt the said lychefeld ffor the moytie of the said Tymber stone glasse yren and tyle aforsaid by fforce whereof the said Lambert and Jane executrix of the testament of the said Thom's lychefeld haue broken and pulled down the stone walles & wyndoes of the said Churche dortr ffratr & cloyster & the same hath taken prceved & convertid to their p'per vses and behofe as lawfull was for the[m] to do by vertue of there said b'gayne & waraunt. All whiche mattrs the said def's ar redy to averre & p've as this hon'able cort shall award. And praye to be dysmyssed wt there resonable costs & charges for ther wrongfull vexac'on & trouble in this behalf."
- "He converted his garden into a tennis court."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Proto-Indo-European *wert- Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *-etor Proto-Indo-European *wértetor Proto-Italic *wertō Proto-Italic *komwertō Latin convertōder. Old French convertirbor. Middle English converten English convert From Middle English converten, from Old French convertir, from Latin converto (“turn around”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /kənˈvɝt/
- British English: /kənˈvɜːt/