Anteverting

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of turning something to face the opposite direction involves changing its position backward
2. The act of rotating an object so that it faces forward or is inverted
3. Moving something by turning it to a forward-facing or upside-down orientation

Etymology: "Anteverting" is the present participle of "antevert," which comes from Latin "antevertere," a compound of "ante" ("before, in front") and "vertere" ("to turn"). The Latin verb is the source of the English sense of turning something so that it faces forward, and the same root gives English "vertex," "reverse," and "convert." Because "antevertere" is built from two ordinary Latin words, the English verb is a transparent formation: "ante-" supplies the sense of forward or before, and "-vert" supplies the sense of turning. Its meaning follows directly from those parts, so the word needs little explanation beyond them.