I. (ˈ)in|vərs, ənˈv-, -və̄s, -vəis transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Latin inversus, past participle of invertere
: invert , reverse
II. ˈ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷, ̷ ̷ˈ ̷ ̷ adjective
Etymology: Latin inversus, past participle of invertere to invert — more at invert
1. archaic : being upside down : inverted
a tower builded on a lake, mocked by its inverse shadow — Thomas Hood †1845
2. : opposite in nature or relationship : contrary , reversed
as high as 70 percent … were engaged in repair and conversion work, a condition inverse to prewar operation — Collier's Year Book
attendance of the students … is in inverse ratio to the work in the cornfields — Joaquin Noval
3.
a. : opposite in nature and effect — used of two mathematical operations which when both are performed in succession upon any quantity reproduce that quantity
division is the inverse operation of multiplication
b. of a mathematical function : expressing the same relationship as another function but from the opposite viewpoint
III. noun
( -s )
1. : something of a contrary nature or quality : opposite , reverse
had no luck with his experiment so he tried the inverse of this process and got a positive result
specifically : the opposite color from that of the first card dealt in the winning row in the game of rouge et noir — compare couleur 2
2. : the result of an inversion ; specifically : a proposition which is inferred immediately from another and in which the subject term is the negative of the subject of the given proposition and the predicate term is unchanged
the inverse of “no purposeful effort is entirely wasted” is “some not-purposeful effort is entirely wasted”
— compare contraposition
3. : an inverse function, operation, or point
IV. noun
: a set element that is related to another element in such a way that the result of applying a given binary operation to them is an identity element of the set — see additive inverse herein multiplicative inverse herein