invert Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb make an inversion (in a musical composition)
    • here the theme is inverted
  2. verb reverse the position, order, relation, or condition of
    reverse.
    • when forming a question, invert the subject and the verb
  3. verb turn inside out or upside down
    turn back; reverse.

WordNet

In*vert" transitive verb
Etymology
L. invertere, inversum; pref. in- in + vertere to turn. See Verse.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Inverted; present participle & verbal noun Inverting
Definitions
  1. To turn over; to put upside down; to upset; to place in a contrary order or direction; to reverse; as, to invert a cup, the order of words, rules of justice, etc.
    That doth invert the attest of eyes and ears, As if these organs had deceptious functions. Shak.
    Such reasoning falls like an inverted cone, Wanting its proper base to stand upon. Cowper.
  2. (Mus.) To change the position of; -- said of tones which form a chord, or parts which compose harmony.
  3. To divert; to convert to a wrong use. Obs. Knolles.
  4. (Chem.) To convert; to reverse; to decompose by, or subject to, inversion. See Inversion, n., 10.
In*vert" intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. (Chem.) To undergo inversion, as sugar.
In"vert adjective
Definitions
  1. (Chem.) Subjected to the process of inversion; inverted; converted; as, invert sugar.
In"vert noun
Definitions
  1. (Masonry) An inverted arch.

Webster 1913