INVERSION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does inversion mean? 

• INVERSION (noun)
  The noun INVERSION has 9 senses:

1. the layer of air near the earth is cooler than an overlying layer

2. abnormal condition in which an organ is turned inward or inside out (as when the upper part of the uterus is pulled into the cervical canal after childbirth)

3. a chemical process in which the direction of optical rotation of a substance is reversed from dextrorotatory to levorotary or vice versa

4. (genetics) a kind of mutation in which the order of the genes in a section of a chromosome is reversed

5. the reversal of the normal order of words

6. (counterpoint) a variation of a melody or part in which ascending intervals are replaced by descending intervals and vice versa

7. a term formerly used to mean taking on the gender role of the opposite sex

8. turning upside down; setting on end

9. the act of turning inside out

  Familiarity information: INVERSION used as a noun is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INVERSION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The layer of air near the earth is cooler than an overlying layer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("inversion" is a kind of...):

atmospheric phenomenon (a physical phenomenon associated with the atmosphere)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Abnormal condition in which an organ is turned inward or inside out (as when the upper part of the uterus is pulled into the cervical canal after childbirth)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("inversion" is a kind of...):

abnormalcy; abnormality (an abnormal physical condition resulting from defective genes or developmental deficiencies)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A chemical process in which the direction of optical rotation of a substance is reversed from dextrorotatory to levorotary or vice versa

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Hypernyms ("inversion" is a kind of...):

chemical action; chemical change; chemical process ((chemistry) any process determined by the atomic and molecular composition and structure of the substances involved)

Sense 4

Meaning:

(genetics) a kind of mutation in which the order of the genes in a section of a chromosome is reversed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("inversion" is a kind of...):

chromosomal mutation; genetic mutation; mutation ((genetics) any event that changes genetic structure; any alteration in the inherited nucleic acid sequence of the genotype of an organism)

Domain category:

genetic science; genetics (the branch of biology that studies heredity and variation in organisms)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The reversal of the normal order of words

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

anastrophe; inversion

Hypernyms ("inversion" is a kind of...):

rhetorical device (a use of language that creates a literary effect (but often without regard for literal significance))

Sense 6

Meaning:

(counterpoint) a variation of a melody or part in which ascending intervals are replaced by descending intervals and vice versa

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("inversion" is a kind of...):

variation (a repetition of a musical theme in which it is modified or embellished)

Domain category:

counterpoint (a musical form involving the simultaneous sound of two or more melodies)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A term formerly used to mean taking on the gender role of the opposite sex

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

inversion; sexual inversion

Hypernyms ("inversion" is a kind of...):

gayness; homoeroticism; homosexualism; homosexuality; queerness (a sexual attraction to (or sexual relations with) persons of the same sex)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Turning upside down; setting on end

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

inversion; upending

Hypernyms ("inversion" is a kind of...):

motility; motion; move; movement (a change of position that does not entail a change of location)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "inversion"):

overturn; turnover; upset (the act of upsetting something)

Derivation:

invert (turn inside out or upside down)

Sense 9

Meaning:

The act of turning inside out

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

eversion; everting; inversion

Hypernyms ("inversion" is a kind of...):

motility; motion; move; movement (a change of position that does not entail a change of location)

Derivation:

invert (turn inside out or upside down)

 Context examples 

An inversion on chromosome 2, which fuses the gene to the ALK gene, is associated with non-small cell lung cancer.

(EML4 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

A fusion gene that results from a chromosomal inversion inv(2)(p21p23) which fuses the 5' portion of the EML4 gene with exons 20-29 of the ALK gene.

(EML4/ALK Fusion Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

A chromosomal inversion inv(11)(p15q22) which fuses this gene and the NUP98 gene is associated with myeloid malignancies.

(DDX10 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

The gene can be involved in a pericentric inversion inv(16)(p13;q22) that is found in acute myeloid leukemia of M4Eo subtype.

(MYH11 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

The gene can be involved in an inversion inv(X)(p11.2;q12) with the TFE3 gene in some papillary renal cell carcinomas.

(NONO wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

A fusion gene that results from a paracentric inversion inv(10)(q11q11) which fuses the 5' portion of the NCOA4 gene and the 3' portion of the RET gene.

(NCOA4/RET Fusion Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

A fusion gene (~3.9 kb) that results from a chromosomal inversion inv(2)(p21p23) which fuses exon 13 of the EML4 gene with exons 20-29 of the ALK gene.

(EML4/ALK Fusion Gene Variant 1, NCI Thesaurus)

A fusion gene (~4.7 kb) that results from a chromosomal inversion inv(2)(p21p23) which fuses exon 20 of the EML4 gene with exons 20-29 of the ALK gene.

(EML4/ALK Fusion Gene Variant 2, NCI Thesaurus)

A fusion gene (~2.1 kb) that results from a chromosomal inversion inv(2)(p21p23) which fuses exon 2 of the EML4 gene with approximately 115 nucleotides of intron 19 and exons 20-29 of the ALK gene.

(EML4/ALK Fusion Gene Variant 5b, NCI Thesaurus)

A fusion gene that results from a chromosomal inversion inv(22)(q12q12) which fuses the first eight exons of the EWSR1 gene with the PATZ1 gene.

(EWSR1/PATZ1 Fusion Gene, NCI Thesaurus)