convert
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /kənˈvɜːt/
ipa: [kʰə̥ɱˈvɜːt]
enpr: kənvûrt'
ipa: /kənˈvɝt/
ipa: [kʰə̥ɱˈvɝt]
rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)t
Forms: form: converts
form: converting
form: converted
form: converted
Etymology: From Middle English converten, from Old French convertir, from Latin converto (“turn around”).
Senses: examples: text: A kettle converts water into steam.
text: 1684-1690, Thomas Burnet, Sacred Theory of the Earth
if the whole atmosphere were converted into water
text: That ſtill leſſens / The ſorrow, and converts it nigh to joy.
ref: 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 91:
text: Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: the ability to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and waste oxygen using solar energy.
ref: 2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist:
glosses: To transform or change (something) into another form, substance, state, or product.
examples: text: And the deff's further sayen that after the said b'gayn the said lambert compounded wt the said lychefeld ffor the moytie of the said Tymber stone glasse yren and tyle aforsaid by fforce whereof the said Lambert and Jane executrix of the testament of the said Thom's lychefeld haue broken and pulled down the stone walles & wyndoes of the said Churche dortr ffratr & cloyster & the same hath taken prceved & convertid to their p'per vses and behofe as lawfull was for the[m] to do by vertue of there said b'gayne & waraunt. All whiche mattrs the said def's ar redy to averre & p've as this hon'able cort shall award. And praye to be dysmyssed wt there resonable costs & charges for ther wrongfull vexac'on & trouble in this behalf.
ref: c. 1540-1553, John Hobson Matthews, editor, Augmentation proceedings: 1540-1553, volume 3, Cardiff Records, published 1901:
text: He converted his garden into a tennis court.
text: “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; and she looked it, always trim and trig and smooth of surface like a converted yacht cleared for action. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable,[…].
ref: 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
glosses: To change (something) from one use, function, or purpose to another.
examples: text: They converted her to Roman Catholicism on her deathbed.
text: No attempt was made to convert the Moslems.
ref: 1855–1858, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC:
text: How little chance, then, should I have against one whose brain was supernaturally sharpened, and who had two thousand years of experience, besides all manner of knowledge of the secrets of Nature at her command! Feeling that she would be more likely to convert me than I should to convert her, I thought it best to leave the matter alone, and so sat silent.
ref: 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
text: One old chap on a huge slotting machine was intensely religious and made great efforts to convert every young man who came his way.
ref: 1944 September and October, A Former Student, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—I”, in Railway Magazine, page 285:
glosses: To induce (someone) to adopt a particular religion, faith, ideology or belief (see also sense 12).
examples: text: We converted our pounds into euros.
glosses: To exchange for something of equal value.
glosses: To express (a quantity) in alternative units.
examples: text: How do you convert feet into metres?
glosses: To express (a unit of measurement) in terms of another; to furnish a mathematical formula by which a quantity, expressed in the former unit, may be given in the latter.
examples: text: The grand jury claims Terrigno "knowingly converted, for the benefit of herself and others, federal funds, which were intended to help the poor and homeless in the Los Angeles area."
ref: 1985 December 14, Gordon Gottlieb, “L.A. Community Divided over Terrigno Indictment”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 22, page 10:
topics: law
glosses: To appropriate wrongfully or unlawfully; to commit the common law tort of conversion.
examples: text: Flood converted to leave Wales with a 23-9 deficit going into the final quarter.
ref: 2011 February 4, Gareth Roberts, “Wales 19-26 England”, in BBC:
topics: ball-games
football
games
hobbies
lifestyle
rugby
sports
glosses: To score extra points after (a try) by completing a conversion.
examples: text: Bass also kicked field goals of 40 and 49 yards, but he also missed a point-after try, which led to a 2-point conversion that the Bills converted later in the game.
ref: 2024 November 3, Jon Scott, Tommy Gallagher, “61 yards to victory: Bills ride another 2nd-half surge, beat Dolphins”, in WGRZ:
topics: American-football
ball-games
football
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To score extra points following a touchdown.
examples: text: Hinton, inevitably, converted the penalty.
ref: 2011, Jonathan Wilson, Brian Clough: The Biography, →ISBN:
text: However, the lead was doubled after the break, when Branislav Ivanovic converted from close range after Fernando Torres had flicked on.
ref: 2013, Mark Worrall, Kelvin Barker, David Johnstone, Making History, Not Reliving It: A Decade of Roman's Rule at Chelsea, →ISBN, page 225:
text: This time Polish goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski was Saints' penalty shootout hero, saving three spot kicks before centre-back Wayne Thomas converted from 12 yards to seal a 6-5 win.
ref: 2016, Alex Crook, Alex Smith, Southampton Greatest Games: Saints' Fifty Finest Matches, →ISBN:
topics: ball-games
games
hobbies
lifestyle
soccer
sports
glosses: To score (especially a penalty kick).
qualifier: ten-pin bowling
glosses: To score a spare.
examples: text: We've converted to Methodism.
text: The notion of blood purity was first elaborated in Europe, where it was used to separate Old Christians from Spain’s New Christians—women and men of Jewish and Muslim origin whose ancestors had converted to Christianity.
ref: 2009, Irene Silverblatt, “Foreword”, in Andrew B. Fisher, Matthew D. O'hara, editors, Imperial Subjects: Race and Identity in Colonial Latin America, page xi:
glosses: To undergo a conversion of religion, faith or belief (see also sense 3).
examples: text: The chair converts into a bed.
glosses: To become converted.
examples: text: O, which way shall I first convert myself?
ref: 1600 (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Cynthias Reuels, or The Fountayne of Selfe-Loue. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC:
glosses: To cause to turn; to turn.
topics: human-sciences
logic
mathematics
philosophy
sciences
glosses: To change (one proposition) into another, so that what was the subject of the first becomes the predicate of the second.
examples: text: which story[…]Catullus more elegantly converted
ref: 1609, Ben Jonson, The Masque of Queens:
glosses: To turn into another language; to translate.
examples: text: Gillespie was reminded he had promised to join team-mate Matthew Hayden in a nude lap of the ground if he converted his century into a double.
ref: 2006, Gillespie hails 'fairytale' knock, BBC:
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To increase one's individual score, especially from 50 runs (a fifty) to 100 runs (a century), or from a century to a double or triple century.
examples: text: Each time a user clicks on one of your adverts, you will be charged the bid amount whether the user converts or not.
topics: business
marketing
glosses: To perform the action that an online advertisement is intended to induce; to reach the point of conversion.
examples: text: On the final day Marshall won a pawn as Black from another old rival, Hodges, but couldn't convert it and played on until a drawn king-and-pawn endgame.
ref: 1994, Andrew Soltis, Frank Marshall, United States Chess Champion, McFarland, Inc, →ISBN, page 262:
text: In a serious game, the same event often takes place: the attacking side, out of pure inertia, tries to convert an advantage which he or she no longer has, thus giving the defending side winning chances.
ref: 2012, Daniel Naroditsky, Mastering Complex Endgames, New In Chess, →ISBN, page 56:
text: Black has survived the attack and is better due to his active king! Many moves later, he converted.
ref: 2021, Frank Erwich, 1001 Chess Exercises for Advanced Club Players, New In Chess, →ISBN:
topics: board-games
chess
games
glosses: To transform a material or positional advantage into a win.
Synonyms: word: convert
word: develop
word: evolve
word: shift
Hypernyms: word: alter
Hyponyms: word: grow
word: mature
word: melt
word: ripen
Derived terms: bioconvert
convertance
convertase
convertee
converter
convertible
convertor
downconvert
downconversion
downconverter
immunoconvert
interconvert
misconvert
phenoconvert
photoconvert
preach to the converted
preconvert
reconvert
seroconvert
unconvert
upconvert
upconversion
upconverter
Related terms: word: conversion
sense: force adoption of beliefs
word: proselytize