invertir

Forms

invertir^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin invertō (“to turn over, upset, transpose, interchange”).^[2][3][1] The Latin verb is formed from in- and vertō (“to turn”).^[3][4][5] The TLFi dates the borrowing to 1537, while the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert give a first date of 1265.^[2][4][6] The verb seems to have dropped out of use between the middle of the 16th century and the end of the 18th, when it was taken up again.^[5][3]

The related inversion (1529) and inverse (1611) were borrowed from the Latin inversiō and inversus.^[7] After about 1840 the verb inverser, derived from the adjective, became the usual word and pushed the older verb back.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, in a 1537 French translation of Boccaccio's Fiammetta cited by Huguet, has the sense “to interchange, swap round”.^[2][5][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the verb had the Latin senses: to interchange (1537), to reverse the order of things (1546, Estienne's dictionary), to upset or disturb (1552), and in law (1584) to hinder the effect of a measure; all of these went out of use.^[2][3] It seems not to have been used in the classical period.^[3]

It came back at the end of the 18th century through the past participle inverti “symmetrically reversed”, used by Chateaubriand in 1797;^[2][3][7] Bloch and Wartburg cite his images inverties dans les eaux, images reversed in the water.^[2][3][7] It then became a learned and technical word: in military language (1838) it meant to draw up troops in the reverse of their usual order,^[3][8] in chemistry sucre inverti (1877) is sugar split by inversion,^[2][3] and in electricity (1935) one reverses a current.^[3][2]

The noun inverti “homosexual man” is recorded in 1894, probably after the adjective in sexuel inverti (1888); it is more common than the verb, which it helped to weaken.^[3] Bloch and Wartburg trace this pejorative sense to inversion, first a term for the reversed order of words.^[7]

Timeline

• 1537 – A translation of Boccaccio's Fiammetta uses it for “to interchange”.^[2]
• 1546 – Estienne's dictionary has the sense “to reverse the order”.^[2]
• 1584 – A legal use, “to hinder the effect of a measure”, is recorded.^[3]
• 1797 – Chateaubriand uses inverti “symmetrically reversed”.^[2][3]
• 1838 – Military use: to place troops in the reverse order.^[3]
• 1877 – Littré's Supplement records sucre inverti in chemistry.^[2]
• 1888 – Sexuel inverti appears; the noun inverti follows in 1894.^[3]
• 1935 – The Académie records invertir le sens d'un courant électrique.^[2][9]

Meanings

Verb

1. (dated) To reverse symmetrically; to invert the order, position or direction of something.^{[6][10][11][2]}
2. (figurative) To turn something round into its opposite, as values or terms.^[2]
3. (chemistry) To split saccharose into glucose and lévulose by inversion;^[2][5] sucre inverti, invert sugar.^[2][5]
4. (electricity) To reverse the direction of an electric current.^[2][5][9]

Word family

• inverti

Related words

• inverse
• inversion
• inverser
• Latin invertō

Usage notes

The verb is learned and now dated; inverser is the usual word.^[3][6][10] The TLFi records a rare noun invertissement “permutation”, used by Toulet in 1920.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c 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 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 l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Académie française (1932–1935), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 8th ed., Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)