Etymograph

English

inversion

Inversion comes from Latin invertō ‘to invert’, from vertō ‘turn’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wert-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wert-1‘to turn, to rotate, spin’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wértetor1‘to turn, be turning’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wertō1‘to turn’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertō1‘turn’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinvertō2‘to invert’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinversio3as inversiōnemperfect passive participle of invertō
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1897inversion3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin inverto
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin inversio
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English inversion
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, W. Havelock Ellis, Sexual Inversion: “We can seldom, therefore, congratulate ourselves on the success…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wert-Wiktionary, Latin inverto‘to turn, to rotate, spin’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wértetorWiktionary, Latin inverto‘to turn, be turning’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wertōWiktionary, Latin inverto‘to turn’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertōWiktionary, Latin inverto‘turn’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinvertōWiktionary, Latin inversio‘to invert’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinversioWiktionary, English inversionas inversiōnemperfect passive participle of invertō
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1897inversionWiktionary, English inversion. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, W. Havelock Ellis, Sexual Inversion: “We can seldom, therefore, congratulate ourselves on the success…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wert- ‘to turn, to rotate, spin’

word, worth, weird, ridiculous, universe, ridicule, deride, derision, wurst, derisive, 58 more

through Proto-Italic *wertō ‘to turn’

adverse, transverse, perverse, averse, introvert, vertebra, evert, extraversion, 39 more

through Latin vertō ‘turn’

university, divorce, conversation, vertical, versus, diverse, diversity, advertisement, verse, vortex, versatile, advert, divert, convertible, revert, pervert, vertex, vertigo, adversity, avert, vertebrate, diversion, subvert, diversification, vert, aversion, verso, perversion, reversion, perversity, 46 more

Today it means

noun The action of inverting.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “inversion”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin inverto, Latin inversio. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wert- / inversion

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