reverse English · revision 5741

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1303|origins=la reversus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /rɪˈvɜːs/, US /rɪˈvɝːs/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The adjective is Middle English revers, [[bor|fro|revers|t=reverse, opposite]] and directly [[bor|la|reversus]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the past participle of [[m|la|revertere|t=to turn back]] (see [[revert]]), from [[m|la|re-]] and [[m|la|vertere|t=to turn]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988) The verb is from Old French reverser, from Late Latin reversāre “to turn round”, a frequentative of revertere.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Opposite or contrary in character or order: 1303 in the OED and Barnhart, in Mannyng's ''Handlyng Synne''.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun, the opposite of something, is from about 1350, in Chaucer.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) The verb first meant to change or alter (before 1333), then to turn the other way (before 1393), and to go backward in the early 15th century;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) to annul a judicial sentence is from the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline) A defeat or change of fortune for the worse is from the 1520s,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and the back of a coin from the 1620s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The reverse gear of a vehicle is by 1875 as an adjective and by 1900 as a noun, and to put a vehicle in reverse by 1902.^(Etymonline) ''Reversal'' is from 1488, first of reversing a legal judgment, and ''reversible'' from 1648.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Reverse discrimination'' is American, attested from 1962.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1303 – opposite, contrary.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1333 – the verb, to change.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1350 – the noun, the opposite.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1520s – a setback.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1620s – the back of a coin.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1875 – reverse gear.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1902 – to reverse a car.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To turn something the other way round, [[inside out]] or upside down.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To change to the opposite; to undo or [[annul]] a decision.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To move or drive backwards.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The opposite of something.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The back of something, especially the side of a [[coin]] without the main design.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A [[setback]] or change for the worse.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The [[gear]] that makes a vehicle go backwards.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Opposite in direction, order or position.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[reversely]]

+ * [[reverser]]

+ * [[nonreverse]]

+ * [[reversible]]

+ * [[reversal]]

+ * [[reverse-engineer]]

+ * [[reverse commuter]]

+ * [[reverse curve]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[revert]]

+ * [[reversion]]

+ * [[vertical]]

+ * [[versus]]

+ * [[converse]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Yorkshire, the Isle of Wight and Somerset dialect a reverse was the burden or refrain of a song.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}