inversion
/ɪnˈvɚ.ʒən/
Frequency: 3.26 in modern English
Meaning
noun
The act of being in an inverted state; being upside down, inside out, or in a reverse sequence.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The reversal of an interval; the move of one pitch in an interval up or down an octave.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The position of a chord which has a note other than the root as its bass note.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The flipping of a melody or contrapuntal line so that high notes become low and vice versa; the reversal of a pitch contour.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A segment of DNA in the context of a chromosome that is reversed in orientation relative to a reference karyotype or genome.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A situation where air temperature increases with altitude (the ground being colder than the surrounding air).
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A section of a roller coaster where passengers are temporarily turned upside down.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Question formation involves the phenomenon commonly known as subject-auxiliary inversion, a change in word order in which the auxiliary moves in front of the subject."
- "We can seldom, therefore, congratulate ourselves on the success of any "cure" of inversion."
- "Equal relationships can only exist between equals. Inversion is the most positive identity possible in the situation as it is now."
- "My father, León Fuertes, was a fag three years; […] He put on all the trappings of inversion: the twittered mouthings, the hyper-feminine moues, the languid mincings."
Etymology
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: inversio
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɪnˈvɚ.ʒən/
- British English: /ɪnˈvɜː.ʃən/