Reversive

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Having the power or tendency to undo or overturn a previous decision, condition, or effect
2. Serving to annul or turn back an earlier judgment, action, or change so that the original state returns
3. Describing something that acts to cancel out or invert what came before it

Etymology: "Reversive" is a plain formation: the adjective "reverse" with the suffix "-ive", which turns a verb into an adjective meaning "tending to" or "having the quality of" the action named. So a reversive act is one that tends to reverse something. The suffix comes from Latin "-ivus" through French "-if" and "-ive," and it is the same ending found in words like "active" and "creative." The base word "reverse" reaches English from Old French "reverser," which descends from Latin "reversare," meaning "to turn back." Its earlier Latin sense of turning over or returning gives "reversive" its core meaning: it describes something that turns things back to how they were. The word is a technical-sounding adjective used mainly in legal and scientific writing, where a reversive process or treatment undoes the effects of an earlier one.

Synonyms: reversing