inversion

Forms

inversion f (plural inversions)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin inversiō (“a turning about, antiphrasis, irony, anastrophe”), first recorded in 1529.^[2][3][4] The Latin noun is formed on inversum, the supine of invertō (“to turn over, invert”), from in- and vertō (“to turn”).^[4][5][3] The TLFi treats the chemical sense and the sexual sense of the 19th century as a fresh borrowing of the same Latin word, made after the verb invertir.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1529, in François Bonivard's Jardin d'antiquité, as a term of grammar: the placing of the words of a clause in an order other than the usual one.^[2][5][3]

Semantic evolution

The word entered French through grammar, and it still names the reversal of the usual word order, as when the subject follows the verb in a question.^[3][6] The general sense “the act of turning something the other way, or its result” followed in 1546.^[2][3]

From the late 17th century it was taken up by one technical vocabulary after another: mathematics (1690, in Furetière), the army (1835) and the navy (1842) for a reversed order of units, anatomy for an organ displaced from its natural position (1858), physics for the reversal of an electric current (1856), chemistry for the splitting of sugar (1842 in the TLFi, 1877 in Rey) and geology for the inversion of relief (1931).^[2][3] In 1889 inversion sexuelle was used for homosexuality, after Charcot's inversion du sens génital (1882) and in step with inverti; this sense is now dated.^[3][2][1]

Timeline

• 1529 – First recorded, in grammar, in Bonivard's Jardin d'antiquité.^[2][4]
• 1546 – The general sense “act of turning something round” appears, in Robert Estienne.^[2][3]
• 1690 – Furetière records a mathematical use.^[2]
• 1842 – First used in chemistry, by Biot.^[2]
• 1856 – Inversion du courant appears in physics.^[2]
• 1858 – Littré and Robin use it in anatomy for a displaced organ.^[2][3]
• 1889 – Inversion sexuelle is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1931 – The Larousse du XXe siècle gives the geological sense.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of turning something the other way round or putting it in the opposite order, and the result: reversal.^[2][5]
2. (grammar) The placing of a word or group of words out of the usual order, for example the subject after the verb: l'inversion du sujet.^[6][2]
3. (medicine) An anomaly in which an organ lies in the reverse position or is turned in on itself.^[6][7]
4. (physics) A change in the direction of an electric current or of a motor's rotation.^[6][2]
5. (chemistry) Inversion du sucre: the splitting of sucrose into glucose and fructose.^[6][3]
6. (dated) Homosexuality, formerly called inversion sexuelle.^[2][1]

Related words

• inverser
• inverse
• invertir
• inverti
• Latin inversiō

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette