The basic sense of ‘turning’ is clear in words such as reverse, obverse, and invert. The purpose of an advertisement is to turn you to it, or to the product it displays. Thea- in a vert comes from ab-, ‘away’. So you might a vert your gaze from something, or try to a vert an accident by taking precautions. If you have an a version to something, it ‘turns you off.
Divert and its derivative diversion both contain the idea of ‘turning away’. You can divert someone’s attention from something. Traffic might have to turn off the main road, because of roadworks, and use a diversion. These words can also have the sense of ‘distraction, entertainment’; a hobby is a diversion, something that turns your attention away from your everyday work, for instance. Related to these words are the adjective diverse, meaning ‘varied’, and its noun diversity.
This leads to the idea of ‘change’. A version of something is that thing with some changes made to it. Most of the meanings of convert and convertible have the idea of change. A convert is someone who has changed to a new religion or set of beliefs. You can convert your pounds into francs at a bank. If two people exchange ideas or small talk, they converse or have a conversation.
Other common words using this root are: controversy, conversant, incontrovertible, inverse, irreversible, subversive, traverse.
For Scientific english editing and Medical Writing Services visit www.manuscriptedit.com
No comments:
Post a Comment