Etymograph

English

inversus

Inversus comes from Latin inversus ‘inverted, upset, turned upside down’, 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‘invert, turn upside down’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinversus3‘inverted, upset, turned upside down’
  7. Englishtodayinversus3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin inverto
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin inversus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English inversus

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 inversus‘invert, turn upside down’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinversusWiktionary, English inversus‘inverted, upset, turned upside down’
  7. EnglishtodayinversusWiktionary, English inversus

Linked words

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

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

through Proto-Italic *wertō ‘to turn’

adverse, diversion, transverse, aversion, perverse, averse, introvert, vertebra, subvert, perversion, reversion, evert, 40 more

through Latin vertō ‘turn’

university, version, divorce, conversation, diversity, vertical, diverse, advertisement, verse, vortex, versatile, convertible, advert, divert, revert, pervert, adversity, diversification, vertex, vertigo, avert, vertebrate, vert, verso, perversity, 51 more

Today it means

noun The inverted part of a composition.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “inversus”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin inverto, Latin inversus. 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- / inversus

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