invertire

Invertire is an Italian transitive verb meaning to reverse, invert, or turn something upside down, as well as to reverse the order, direction, or orientation of objects, processes, or ideas. It can refer to physical rotation, changing the sequence of items, or reversing a course of action, policy, or opinion. In mathematical and scientific contexts it denotes making an inverse operation, such as inverting a function or a matrix. The noun form is inversione, and related terms include invertibile (invertible) and invertimento (less common; more often inversione is used).

Etymology and usage notes: invertire derives from Latin invertire, formed from in- (toward, in) and vertere (to turn). The verb is regular among -ire verbs in Italian, following standard endings without the isc pattern seen in some other -ire verbs. It is used across domains—from everyday speech to technical prose—to indicate reversal or undoing of a state, order, or direction.

Conjugation and examples: as a regular -ire verb, its present indicative forms are io inverto, tu inverti, lui/lei inverte, noi invertiamo, voi invertite, loro invertono. The past participle is invertito, used with auxiliary avere: ho invertito. Examples: “Devo invertire l’ordine alfabetico” (I must invert the alphabetical order). “Abbiamo invertito la direzione” (We reversed the direction).

Domains of use: in everyday language, invertire often refers to changing order or direction. in mathematics and logic, it describes forming an inverse operation or reversing a relationship. In electronics, the closely related noun inverter or invertitore denotes a device that inverts a signal; the verb can describe the action of applying such a device, though Italian typically uses invertire for the action and invertitore for the hardware.

See also: inversione, invertibile, invertitore.