Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Revert?

\Re*vert"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Reverted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Reverting}.] [L. revertere, reversum; pref. re- re- + vertere to turn: cf. OF. revertir. See {Verse}, and cf. {Reverse}.] 1. To turn back, or to the contrary; to reverse. Till happy chance revert the cruel scence. --Prior. The tumbling stream . . . Reverted, plays in undulating flow. --Thomson. 2. To throw back; to reflect; to reverberate. 3. (Chem.) To change back. See {Revert}, v. i. {To revert a series} (Alg.), to treat a series, as y = a + bx + cx^{2} + etc., where one variable y is expressed in powers of a second variable x, so as to find therefrom the second variable x, expressed in a series arranged in powers of y.
\Re*vert"\, v. i. 1. To return; to come back. So that my arrows Would have reverted to my bow again. --Shak. 2. (Law) To return to the proprietor after the termination of a particular estate granted by him. 3. (Biol.) To return, wholly or in part, towards some pre["e]xistent form; to take on the traits or characters of an ancestral type. 4. (Chem.) To change back, as from a soluble to an insoluble state or the reverse; thus, phosphoric acid in certain fertilizers reverts.
\Re*vert"\, n. One who, or that which, reverts. An active promoter in making the East Saxons converts, or rather reverts, to the faith. --Fuller.