invert
/ɪnˈvɜɹt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.74 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To turn (something) upside down or inside out; to place in a contrary order or direction; to make (something) the opposite of it.
Transitive verb
verb
To move (the root note of a chord) up or down an octave, resulting in a change in pitch.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "to invert a cup, the order of words, rules of justice, etc."
- "That doth inuert th’atteſt of eyes and eares, / As if thoſe organs were deceptions^([sic – meaning deceptious]) functions, […]"
- "Seldom, alas! the power of logic reigns / With much ſufficiency in royal brains. / Such reaſ'ning falls like an inverted cone, / Wanting its proper baſe to ſtand upon."
- "ob-: used as a prefix inverts the term affixed."
- "[H]e had miſgouerned the ſtate, inuerted his treaſures to his owne priuat […]"
- "We can seldom, therefore, congratulate ourselves on the success of any "cure" of inversion. The success is unlikely to be either permanent or complete, in the case of a decided invert; and in the most successful cases we have simply put into the invert's hands a power of reproduction which it is undesirable he should possess."
Etymology
From Middle French invertir.
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɪnˈvɜɹt/
- British English: /ɪnˈvɜːt/