Convolve

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /kənˈvɒlv/

Definitions

1. To perform an operation that merges two functions by integrating one with respect to the other, resulting in a new function's characteristics
2. This process involves the computation of an overlapping area between two functions, transforming them into a third distinct function
3. To apply a mathematical technique that combines two functions through integration, yielding a resultant function encapsulating properties of both inputs

Etymology: The mathematical sense of "convolve" sits on a very ordinary image: rolling things up together. The word was borrowed into English from Latin "convolvere", meaning "roll together", built from "con-", "together", and "volvere", "to roll". The same root gives English "voluble" (things that roll out smoothly, hence fluent talk), "volute" (a spiral scroll), and the family of "involve", "evolve" and "revolve", each keeping the sense of turning or unrolling in a different direction. Nothing in the Latin verb was mathematical. Its sense was physical, of coils and folds wrapped around one another, and that picture of two things wound into one is what the mathematical use carries over. In convolution, two functions are combined by an integral so that the result blends the properties of both, much as two strands of thread are twisted into a single cord. The modern technical meaning is a later extension of the old physical one.

Synonyms: combine, merge

Antonyms: separate