introvert

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin *intrōvertō (“to turn inward”), a form the OED takes to be probably Modern Latin,^[2][3][4][5] from intrō (“inwardly, within”) and vertō (“to turn”);^[2][6][7][8] the OED compares intrōversus (“inward”).^[2] Barnhart calls it formed as if from such a Latin verb,^[9] and Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com analyse it as intro- with the ending of divert and invert.^[10][11][12] The Latin verb goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to turn, bend”).^[6][7] The noun was formed from the verb, as convert the noun from its verb.^[2][4] Its psychological sense follows German Introvert, a term introduced by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung.^[9][6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

To turn the mind or thoughts inwards upon itself, towards what is internal or spiritual: 1671, in A. Woodhead's translation of the Life of St Teresa.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged and Barnhart date the verb to 1669,^[10][9] Dictionary.com to 1660–70 and Etymonline to the 1650s.^[11][6]

Semantic evolution

The verb began in religious writing, of turning the thoughts to spiritual contemplation,^[2][5] like the noun introversion, recorded from 1654.^[2][6] From 1785, in Cowper, it was also used of turning or bending something physically inwards, and in zoology of drawing a part or organ back into itself.^[2] From this the noun introvert meant, in zoology, a part or organ that is or can be introverted, from 1883 in the OED and 1878 in Etymonline.^[2][6][10] The modern sense came with Jung's psychology: introversion, the turning of psychic energy inwards, appears in English in 1912,^[2][6] and the noun for a person given to it in 1916, in C. E. Long's translation of Jung's Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology.^[2] Etymonline dates this sense to 1917 and Barnhart to 1918.^[6][9] It was set against extrovert, spelled extravert at first and with -o- after 1918, under the influence of introvert.^[6] The adjective introverted, of the mind turned inwards, is older (1781), and was applied in psychology from 1915 as a translation of Jung's German introvertiert.^[9]

Timeline

• 1671 – verb, to turn the mind or thoughts inwards, to spiritual things.^[2] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster Unabridged give 1669.^[9][10]
• 1785 – verb, to turn or bend inwards; in zoology, to withdraw a part into itself.^[2]
• 1883 – noun, a part or organ that is or can be introverted.^[2][10] Etymonline gives 1878.^[6]
• 1916 – noun, in psychology, a person given to introversion; also as an adjective.^[2] Etymonline gives 1917.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (psychology) A person whose interest and attention are directed mainly towards their own thoughts and feelings; the opposite of an extrovert.^{[10][12][7][2]}
2. A quiet, reserved or shy person: As a child he was a real introvert.^[10][2]
3. (zoology) A part or organ that is or can be turned inwards upon itself.^[7][2]

Adjective

1. Characterized by or tending to introversion; introverted.^[10][12]

Verb

1. To turn or direct inward, especially to turn one's thoughts upon oneself.^[7][10][2]
2. (medicine) To turn a tubular organ or part inward upon itself; to invaginate.^[7][12][10]

Word family

• introversion

Related words

• ambivert
• introverted
• extrovert
• invert
• divert
• convert
• version

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins