English
revertent
Revertent comes from Latin revertor ‘to turn back, turn around’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wert-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wert-1‘to turn, to rotate, spin’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wértetor1‘to turn, be turning’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wertō1‘to turn’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertō1‘turn’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErevertor2‘to turn back, turn around’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentrevertent2
- Englishearliest quotation 1848revertent2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin revertor
- 2 Wiktionary, English revertent
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1848, Thomas Hall, Rowland Bradshaw: “Dear Rowland, it must be your business and mine…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wert-Wiktionary, Latin revertor‘to turn, to rotate, spin’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wértetorWiktionary, Latin revertor‘to turn, be turning’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wertōWiktionary, Latin revertor‘to turn’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertōWiktionary, Latin revertor‘turn’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErevertorWiktionary, English revertent‘to turn back, turn around’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentrevertentWiktionary, English revertent
- Englishearliest quotation 1848revertentWiktionary, English revertent. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1848, Thomas Hall, Rowland Bradshaw: “Dear Rowland, it must be your business and mine…”
Formed from revert + -ent
Proto-Indo-European *wert- ‘to turn, to rotate, spin’
…
Proto-Italic *wertō ‘to turn’
Latin vertō ‘to turn, turn oneself, direct one's way, to…’
Latin revertor ‘to return’
Old French revertir ‘to return’
English revert
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wert- ‘to turn, to rotate, spin’
word, worth, weird, ridiculous, universe, ridicule, derision, wurst, deride, invert, derisive, extraversion, 55 more
through Proto-Italic *wertō ‘to turn’
adverse, diversion, inverse, transverse, inversion, aversion, perverse, averse, perversion, introvert, vertebra, evert, 38 more
through Latin vertō ‘turn’
university, version, conversation, divorce, diversity, versus, diverse, verse, vertical, versatile, advertisement, convertible, vortex, adversity, diversification, advert, divert, pervert, vertigo, avert, vertex, subvert, vertebrate, vert, verso, perversity, 49 more
through Latin revertor ‘to turn back, turn around’
Today it means
adj Having reverted to a previous (more basic or more natural) state.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “revertent”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin revertor. 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- / revertent