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Webster 1913 Edition


Convert

Con-vert′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Converted
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Converting
.]
[L.
convertere
,
-versum
;
con-
+
vertere
to turn: cf. F.
convertir
. See
Verse
.]
1.
To cause to turn; to turn.
[Obs.]
O, which way shall I first
convert
myself?
B. Jonson.
2.
To change or turn from one state or condition to another; to alter in form, substance, or quality; to transform; to transmute;
as, to
convert
water into ice
.
If the whole atmosphere were
converted
into water.
T. Burnet.
That still lessens
The sorrow, and
converts
it nigh to joy.
Milton.
3.
To change or turn from one belief or course to another, as from one religion to another or from one party or sect to another.
No attempt was made to
convert
the Moslems.
Prescott.
4.
To produce the spiritual change called conversion in (any one); to turn from a bad life to a good one; to change the heart and moral character of (any one) from the controlling power of sin to that of holiness.
He which
converteth
the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death.
Lames v. 20.
5.
To apply to any use by a diversion from the proper or intended use; to appropriate dishonestly or illegally.
When a bystander took a coin to get it changed, and
converted
it, [it was] held no larceny.
Cooley.
6.
To exchange for some specified equivalent;
as, to
convert
goods into money
.
7.
(Logic)
To change (one proposition) into another, so that what was the subject of the first becomes the predicate of the second.
8.
To turn into another language; to translate.
[Obs.]
Which story . . . Catullus more elegantly
converted
.
B. Jonson.
Syn. – To change; turn; transmute; appropriate.

Con-vert′

,
Verb.
I.
To be turned or changed in character or direction; to undergo a change, physically or morally.
If Nebo had had the preaching that thou hast, they [the Neboites] would have
converted
.
Latimer.
A red dust which
converth
into worms.
Sandys.
The public hope
And eye to thee
converting
.
Thomson.

Con′vert

,
Noun.
1.
A person who is converted from one opinion or practice to another; a person who is won over to, or heartily embraces, a creed, religious system, or party, in which he has not previously believed; especially, one who turns from the controlling power of sin to that of holiness, or from unbelief to Christianity.
The Jesuits did not persuade the
converts
to lay aside the use of images.
Bp. Stillingfleet.
Syn. – Proselyte; neophyte.
Convert
,
Proselyte
,
Pervert
. A convert is one who turns from what he believes to have been a decided error of faith or practice. Such a change may relate to religion, politics, or other subjects. properly considered, it is not confined to speculation alone, but affects the whole current of one’s feelings and the tenor of his actions. As such a change carries with it the appearance of sincerity, the term convert is usually taken in a good sense. Proselyte is a term of more ambiguous use and application. It was first applied to an adherent of one religious system who had transferred himself externally to some other religious system; and is also applied to one who makes a similar transfer in respect to systems of philosophy or speculation. The term has little or no reference to the state of the heart. Pervert is a term of recent origin, designed to express the contrary of convert, and to stigmatize a person as drawn off perverted from the true faith. It has been more particulary applied by members of the Church of England to those who have joined the Roman Catholic Church.

Webster 1828 Edition


Convert

CONVERT

,
Verb.
T.
[L., to turn; coinciding in elements and signification with barter.]
1.
To change or turn into another substance or form; as, to convert gases into water, or water into ice.
2.
To change from one state to another; as, to convert a barren waste into a fruitful field; to convert a wilderness into a garden; to convert rude savages into civilized men.
3.
To change or turn from one religion to another, or from one party or sect to another; as, to convert pagans to Christianity; to convert royalists into republicans.
4.
To turn from a bad life to a good one; to change the heart and moral character, from enmity to God and from vicious habits, to love of God and to a holy life.
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. Acts 3.
He that converteth a sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death. James 5.
5.
To turn toward a point.
Crystal will callify into electricity, and convert the needle freely placed. [Unusual.]
6.
To turn from one use or destination to another; as, to convert liberty into an engine of oppression.
7.
To appropriate or apply to ones own use, or to personal benefit; as, to convert public property to our own use.
8.
To change one proposition into another, so that what was the subject of the first becomes the predicate of the second; as, all sin is a transgression of the law; but every transgression of the law is sin.
9.
To turn into another language.

CONVERT

,
Verb.
I.
To turn or be changed; to undergo a change.
The love of wicked friends converts to fear; that fear, to hate.

CONVERT

,
Noun.
1.
A person who is converted from one opinion or practice to another; a person who renounces one creed, religious system or party, and embraces another; applied particularly to those who change their religious opinions, but applicable to political and philosophical sects.
2.
In a more strict sense, one who is turned from sin to holiness.
Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. Isaiah 1.
3.
In monasteries, a lay-friar or brother, admitted to the service of the house, without orders, and not allowed to sing in the choir.

Definition 2024


convert

convert

English

Noun

convert (plural converts)

  1. A person who has converted to a religion.
    They were all converts to Islam.
    • 2004, Ted Jones, The French Riviera: A Literary Guide for Travellers, Tauris Parke Paperbacks (2007), ISBN 9781845114558, chapter 3, 64:
      While still in this relationship, Greene, a convert to Roman Catholicism at 23, was asked to be godfather to Catherine Walston, a 30-year-old married woman, at her own conversion.
  2. A person who is now in favour of something that he or she previously opposed or disliked.
    I never really liked broccoli before, but now that I've tasted it the way you cook it, I'm a convert!

Translations

Verb

convert (third-person singular simple present converts, present participle converting, simple past and past participle converted)

  1. (transitive) To transform or change (something) into another form, substance, state, or product.
    A kettle converts water into steam.
    • Thomas Burnet (1635?-1715)
      if the whole atmosphere were converted into water
    • John Milton (1608-1674)
      That still lessens / The sorrow, and converts it nigh to joy.
    • 2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, In the News”, in American Scientist:
      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.
  2. (transitive) To change (something) from one use, function, or purpose to another.
    He converted his garden into a tennis court.
    • 1907, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “chapter IX”, in The Younger Set (Project Gutenberg; EBook #14852), New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, published 1 February 2005 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 4241346:
      “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, [].
  3. (transitive) To induce (someone) to adopt a particular religion, faith, ideology or belief (see also sense 11).
    They converted her to Roman Catholicism on her deathbed.
  4. (transitive) To exchange for something of equal value.
    We converted our pounds into euros.
  5. (transitive) To express (a quantity) in alternative units.
  6. (transitive) To express (a unit of measure) in terms of another; to furnish a mathematical formula by which a quantity, expressed in the former unit, may be given in the latter.
    How do you convert feet into metres?
  7. (transitive, law) To appropriate wrongfully or unlawfully; to commit the common law tort of conversion.
  8. (transitive, intransitive, rugby football) To score extra points after (a try) by completing a conversion.
    • 2011 February 4, Gareth Roberts, Wales 19-26 England”, in BBC:
      Flood converted to leave Wales with a 23-9 deficit going into the final quarter.
  9. (soccer) To score (a penalty).
    • 2011 September 28, Jon Smith, Valencia 1-1 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport:
      But, after the error by Lampard's replacement Kalou, Roberto Soldado converted the penalty.
  10. (intransitive, ten-pin bowling) To score a spare.
  11. (intransitive) To undergo a conversion of religion, faith or belief (see also sense 3).
    We’ve converted to Methodism.
  12. (intransitive) To become converted.
    The chair converts into a bed.
  13. (transitive, obsolete) To cause to turn; to turn.
    • Ben Jonson (1572-1637)
      O, which way shall I first convert myself?
  14. (transitive, logic) To change (one proposition) into another, so that what was the subject of the first becomes the predicate of the second.
  15. (transitive, obsolete) To turn into another language; to translate.
    • Ben Jonson (1572-1637)
      which story [] Catullus more elegantly converted
  16. (transitive, cricket) 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.
    • 2006, BBC, Gillespie hails 'fairytale' knock:
      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.

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