Views from an Evangelist

conversion

■ noun

1 the process of converting or of being converted.

▶ Brit. a building that has been converted to a new purpose.

▶ Law the changing of real property into personalty, or of joint into separate property, or vice versa.

2 Rugby a successful kick at goal after a try.

▶ American Football an act of converting a touchdown or a down.

3 Psychiatry the manifestation of a mental disturbance as a physical disorder or disease.

4 Law the action of wrongfully dealing with goods in a manner inconsistent with the owner’s rights.

—origin Middle English: via Old French from Latin conversio(n-), from convers-, convertere (see convert).

conversion factor

■ noun

1 an arithmetical multiplier for converting a quantity expressed in one set of units into an equivalent expressed in another.

2 Economics the manufacturing cost of a product relative to the cost of raw materials.

convert

■ verb /kənˈvəːt/

1 change or cause to change in form, character, or function.

▶ change (money, stocks, or units in which a quantity is expressed) into others of a different kind.

▶ adapt (a building) to make it suitable for a new purpose.

2 change one’s religious faith or other belief.

3 Logic transpose the subject and predicate of (a proposition) according to certain rules to form a new proposition by inference.

4 Rugby score extra points after (a try) by a successful kick at goal.

▶ American Football make an extra score after (a touchdown) by kicking a goal or running another play into the end zone.

▶ American Football advance the ball far enough after (a down) to get another try for a first down.

■ noun /ˈkɒnvəːt/ a person who has changed their religious faith or other belief.

—phrases

convert something to one’s own use Law wrongfully make use of another’s property.

—origin Middle English: from Old French convertir, based on Latin convertere ‘turn about’.

converter (also convertor)

■ noun

1 a person or thing that converts something.

2 a retort used in steel-making.

converter reactor

■ noun a nuclear reactor that converts fertile material into fissile material.

Soanes, C., & Stevenson, A. (Eds.). (2004). Concise Oxford English dictionary (11th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.