perverse

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English pervers,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French pervers (“inclined to evil, wicked, unnatural”), also parvers,^[4][3][5] and directly borrowed from Latin perversus (“turned the wrong way, awry; wrong-headed”),^[4][5][3] the past participle of pervertō (“to overturn; to corrupt”),^[4][5][6] which is formed from Latin per- (“away”) + vertō (“to turn”),^[5][6] from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to turn, bend”).^[5][6] In Anglo-Norman the word is recorded from the first half of the 12th century, as purvers, meaning twisted or deformed, and wicked.^[4][7] The Latin adjective is also the source of Old Occitan pervers, Catalan pervers, Spanish perverso, Portuguese perverso and Italian perverso.^[4] In Old English the Latin word was glossed forcerred, from forcyrran (“to avoid”), from cierran (“to turn”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Self-willed, contrary: in Chaucer's Book of the Duchess (1369),^[3][2] with Etymonline giving "wicked" as the late-14th-century sense.^[5] The OED's first record is from about 1425, in Lydgate's Troy Book, of a person or action going against what is reasonable or expected.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th century the word covered both contrariness and moral wrong: "contrary, fickle" from about 1425, "wicked, evil" from before 1439, both in Lydgate,^[4] and of things or events "adverse, untimely", a sense now rare.^[4] The sense "obstinate in what is wrong" appears in Barclay's Ship of Fools (1509), and "contrary to accepted standards, incorrect" in Elyot's Governour (1531);^[4] Etymonline dates these senses later, to the 1570s and the 1560s.^[5] Johnson (1755) gave "distorted from the right" and "obstinate in the wrong; stubborn; untractable".^[8] A legal use, of a verdict against the weight of the evidence, is recorded from 1851,^[4] and a sexual sense, "perverted", from 1891,^[4] which Collins now calls archaic.^[9] Etymonline notes that perverse kept the non-sexual senses of pervert, while the psychological ones went to perverted.^[5] According to Weekley it took the place of froward.^[10] A verb perverse, to pervert, is recorded from about 1475, and a noun, a perverse person or thing, from 1529.^[4]

Timeline

• 1369 – in Chaucer's Book of the Duchess, self-willed.^[3][2]
• c. 1425 – of a person or action, contrary, unreasonable.^[4]
• before 1439 – morally wrong; wicked.^[4]
• before 1450 – of things or events, adverse, unfavourable.^[4]
• c. 1475 – verb, to pervert.^[4]
• 1509 – obstinate in what is wrong.^[4] Etymonline dates this sense to the 1570s.^[5]
• 1528 – the noun perversity.^[3]
• 1529 – noun, a perverse person or thing.^[4]
• 1531 – contrary to accepted standards; incorrect.^[4] Etymonline dates this sense to the 1560s.^[5]
• 1851 – in law, of a verdict against the weight of evidence.^[4]
• 1891 – sexually perverted.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Deliberately doing the opposite of what is reasonable, expected or wanted; contrary, wayward: Out of perverse pride, he refused every offer of help.^[9][11][4]
2. Obstinate or persistent in what is wrong or foolish.^[9][11][4]
3. Contrary to accepted standards or practice; incorrect or unjustifiable: a perverse reading of the contract.^[11][4][12]
4. Turned away from what is morally right; wicked, corrupt.^[11][4][12]
5. (law) Of a verdict, against the weight of evidence or the judge's direction on a point of law.^[11][4][12]
6. (archaic) Sexually perverted.^[9][4]

Word family

• perversely
• perverseness
• perversity
• perversive
• unperverse

Related words

• pervert
• perversion
• convert
• avert
• adverse
• version

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Skeat, W. W., ed. (1894), The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, vol. VI: Glossarial Index, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press