Converts

Part of speech: verb, noun

Pronunciation: /ˈkɒn.vəts/

Definitions

1. To change one's religious faith or beliefs ; to change the form, function, or appearance of something ; a person who has adopted a new religion or belief system
2. To adopt a new set of beliefs or switch religions ; to transform something into a different state or use ; an individual who has switched from one religion or belief to another
3. To shift or switch religious or ideological beliefs ; to alter the nature or purpose of something ; someone who has undergone a change in their religious or ideological allegiance

Etymology: "Converts" is the plural of "convert", a noun, and the plural form is simply the noun pluralised, so the story belongs to the singular. The word traces back to Latin "convertere", meaning "to turn around" or "turn about", built from "com-" (together, intensive here) and "vertere" (to turn). Its root reaches far back, to the Proto-Indo-European *wert- meaning "to turn", the same root behind English "worth" in its older sense of "to become" and "wrist" in the sense of a turning joint. The word passed into English through Old French "convertir" and Middle English "converten", so its sense of turning from one thing into another arrived with a physical image intact. Its earliest meaning was broadly to change or transform, and the religious sense of turning a person from one faith to another grew naturally from that. The noun for someone who has turned over to a new belief came later, once the verb had spread to cover changes of opinion and allegiance in general.

Synonyms: converts, conversions, transformations

Antonyms: remains, stagnates