Kilo Lingo

Line drawing of inversa
Coloured illustration of inversa
#2268 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

inverse, reversed

Word origin

From Latin inversus, the past participle of invertere, to turn upside down, from in- plus vertere, to turn. The same vertere gives English convert, divert and version.

Origin
Latin
Root
inversus
English cognates
inverse, invert, reverse, convert

Examples

.

The names stand in reverse order.

.

On the reverse side of the paper there is a map.

.

In the mirror everything appears reversed.

No seam to find. The middle of the word looks like it might be something, and it is not: there is no -ers- in Esperanto, and the in- at the front is not an Esperanto prefix either. Invers- is one borrowed root. The Esperanto way of building this idea from parts would use -, and a or will both do the job, but the international word came in whole and stayed.

What it does and does not mean. is turned round, back to front, the other way about. It is not simply "opposite": for that you want kontraŭa or a - adjective. is reverse order, is inverse proportion in maths, and the of a page is the back of it.

The beside it. Renversi is to turn something over, knock it upside down or overthrow it; i is the drier, more technical to invert. Inverse as an adverb means conversely, and it does the same job at the head of a sentence that "the other way round" does in English.

Where this fits

Add to review queue

Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.

Go to my review queue

Esperanto · Free printables

inversa: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Esperanto word "inversa" (inverse, reversed): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

Free for members

The printable worksheets, infographics and PDFs are free with an account. Start a free week and download as many as you like.

Start your free week

This word is part of lesson 46.