Convert

How to spell convert

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce convert

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does convert mean?

1. verbTo change something into a different form, function, or value.
2. nounA person who has adopted a new religion, opinion, or set of beliefs.

Convert in a sentence

• verb

  The builders plan to convert the attic into a spare bedroom.

• noun

  As a recent convert to the faith, she attended every service.

• verb

  You can convert the foreign currency at the airport bureau.

• noun

  The gym gained another enthusiastic convert to early morning workouts.

Where does convert come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word goes back to the Latin verb convertere, which combined the prefix con-, here acting as an intensifier meaning 'wholly' or 'around', with the verb vertere, meaning 'to turn'. The literal sense was therefore 'to turn around completely', whether physically or in spirit. English took it up through Old French convertir in the 1200s, where it carried a strong religious flavour: to turn a person away from one faith and toward another, which is where the noun for a religious convert comes from. From that spiritual 'turning' the meaning broadened to any kind of change of form, purpose, or value, so today we convert measurements, currencies, lofts, and try-scoring rugby kicks. The vert root is highly productive and still visible in relatives like reverse, divert, and version, all of which involve some kind of turning.

How the word is built

• con- (together, wholly)
• vert (to turn, from Latin vertere)