inverse

Forms

inverse (plural inverses)^[1] Used as a noun, it is masculine: l'inverse, plural inverses.^[1][2] Cotgrave records the spellings invers and inverse in 1611.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin inversus (“turned upside down, inverted”), the past participle of invertō (“to turn round, invert”).^[3][5][6] Littré analyses the Latin word as in- and versus (“turned”), from vertō (“to turn”).^[7] The borrowing dates from 1611; the Grand Robert sets beside it the older inherited envers², recorded from the 12th century.^[3][8]

Cognate with Occitan envers, Spanish inverso and Italian inverso.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cotgrave's French–English dictionary of 1611 is the first to record it, as an adjective meaning “turned the opposite way, reversed”.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

From the start the adjective meant “exactly opposite, contrary”, as in en sens inverse “in the opposite direction”.^[5] Mathematics took it up early: Furetière's dictionary of 1690 has the règle inverse, an inverted rule of three, a use that has since disappeared, and rapport inverse “inverse ratio” is found in 1708.^[3][5] In 1762 the Académie recorded it as a term of logic.^[3] From the same year it also applied to whatever is, moves or is done in the opposite direction.^[3][5]

Used as a noun, l'inverse “the opposite” dates from 1762, with the phrases à l'inverse de “contrary to” (Nodier, 1831) and faire l'inverse “to do the opposite” (Académie, 1835).^[3][5] The adjective later spread into technical fields, as in courant inverse in electricity (19th century) and the dictionnaire inverse, whose words are sorted from their last letter.^[5]

Timeline

• 1611 – Cotgrave records invers and inverse “reversed”.^[3]
• 1690 – Furetière defines the mathematical règle inverse.^[3][5]
• 1708 – Rapport inverse “inverse ratio” appears in Reyneau's Analyse démontrée.^[3]
• 1752 – The adverb inversement is first recorded.^[5]
• 1762 – The Académie records it as a term of logic, and the noun l'inverse is found.^[3][5]
• 1831 – Nodier uses à l'inverse de.^[3][5]
• 1835 – The Académie records faire l'inverse.^[3]
• 1840 – The verb inverser is first recorded, in Pierre Leroux.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Exactly opposite or contrary in direction or order: dans l'ordre inverse, en sens inverse, for example Les deux trains roulaient en sens inverse.^[2][3]
2. Dictionnaire inverse: a dictionary whose words are sorted alphabetically from their last letter.^[2][5]
3. (logic) Of a proposition: having its terms in the reverse relation to those of another.^[2][7]
4. (mathematics) Inverse, reciprocal: en raison inverse “in inverse proportion”.^[4][3]

Noun

1. L'inverse: the opposite, the reverse, for example Il a fait l'inverse de ce qu'on lui demandait.^[3][2]
2. À l'inverse, à l'inverse de: conversely, contrary to.^[3][5]

Word family

• inversement
• inverser

Related words

• envers²
• invertir
• Latin inversus

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 793b
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert