convert Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a person who has been converted to another religious or political belief
  2. verb change from one system to another or to a new plan or policy
    change over.
    • We converted from 220 to 110 Volt
  3. verb change the nature, purpose, or function of something
    • convert lead into gold
    • convert hotels into jails
    • convert slaves to laborers
  4. verb change religious beliefs, or adopt a religious belief
    • She converted to Buddhism
  5. verb exchange or replace with another, usually of the same kind or category
    commute; change; exchange.
    • Could you convert my dollars into pounds?
    • He changed his name
    • convert centimeters into inches
    • convert holdings into shares
  6. verb cause to adopt a new or different faith
    • The missionaries converted the Indian population
  7. verb score an extra point or points after touchdown by kicking the ball through the uprights or advancing the ball into the end zone
    • Smith converted and his team won
  8. verb complete successfully
    • score a penalty shot or free throw
  9. verb score (a spare)
  10. verb make (someone) agree, understand, or realize the truth or validity of something
    win over; convince.
    • He had finally convinced several customers of the advantages of his product
  11. verb exchange a penalty for a less severe one
    commute; exchange.
  12. verb change in nature, purpose, or function; undergo a chemical change
    • The substance converts to an acid

WordNet

Con*vert" transitive verb
Etymology
L. convertere, -versum; con- + vertere to turn: cf. F. convertir. See Verse.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Converted; present participle & verbal noun Converting
Definitions
  1. To cause to turn; to turn. Obs.
    O, which way shall I first convert myself? B. Jonson.
  2. To change or turn from one state or condition to another; to alter in form, substance, or quality; to transform; to transmute; as, to convert water into ice.
    If the whole atmosphere were converted into water. T. Burnet.
    That still lessens The sorrow, and converts it nigh to joy. Milton.
  3. To change or turn from one belief or course to another, as from one religion to another or from one party or sect to another.
    No attempt was made to convert the Moslems. Prescott.
  4. To produce the spiritual change called conversion in (any one); to turn from a bad life to a good one; to change the heart and moral character of (any one) from the controlling power of sin to that of holiness.
    He which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death. Lames v. 20.
  5. To apply to any use by a diversion from the proper or intended use; to appropriate dishonestly or illegally.
    When a bystander took a coin to get it changed, and converted it, [it was] held no larceny. Cooley.
  6. To exchange for some specified equivalent; as, to convert goods into money.
  7. (Logic) To change (one proposition) into another, so that what was the subject of the first becomes the predicate of the second.
  8. To turn into another language; to translate. Obs.
    Which story . . . Catullus more elegantly converted. B. Jonson.
    Syn. -- To change; turn; transmute; appropriate.
Con*vert" intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To be turned or changed in character or direction; to undergo a change, physically or morally.
    If Nebo had had the preaching that thou hast, they [the Neboites] would have converted. Latimer.
    A red dust which converth into worms. Sandys.
    The public hope And eye to thee converting. Thomson.
Con"vert noun
Definitions
  1. A person who is converted from one opinion or practice to another; a person who is won over to, or heartily embraces, a creed, religious system, or party, in which he has not previously believed; especially, one who turns from the controlling power of sin to that of holiness, or from unbelief to Christianity.
    The Jesuits did not persuade the converts to lay aside the use of images. Bp. Stillingfleet.
  2. A lay friar or brother, permitted to enter a monastery for the service of the house, but without orders, and not allowed to sing in the choir. Syn. -- Proselyte; neophyte. -- Convert, Proselyte, Pervert. A convert is one who turns from what he believes to have been a decided error of faith or practice. Such a change may relate to religion, politics, or other subjects. properly considered, it is not confined to speculation alone, but affects the whole current of one's feelings and the tenor of his actions. As such a change carries with it the appearance of sincerity, the term convert is usually taken in a good sense. Proselyte is a term of more ambiguous use and application. It was first applied to an adherent of one religious system who had transferred himself externally to some other religious system; and is also applied to one who makes a similar transfer in respect to systems of philosophy or speculation. The term has little or no reference to the state of the heart. Pervert is a term of recent origin, designed to express the contrary of convert, and to stigmatize a person as drawn off perverted from the true faith. It has been more particulary applied by members of the Church of England to those who have joined the Roman Catholic Church.

Webster 1913