Inversion - Definition

n 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 [syn: anastrophe,
inversion]
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 [syn: inversion, sexual inversion]
8: turning upside down; setting on end [syn: inversion,
upending]
9: the act of turning inside out [syn: inversion, eversion,
everting]