convert

A person who has converted to a religion.

Noun

  1. A person who has converted to a religion.
    • They were all converts to Islam.
    • While still in this relationship, Greene, a convert to Roman Catholicism at 23, was asked to be godfather to Catherine Walston, a 30-year-old married woman, at her own conversion. - 2004, Ted Jones, chapter 3, in The...
  2. A person who is now in favour of something that they previously opposed or disliked.
    • I never really liked broccoli before, but now that I've tasted it the way you cook it, I'm a convert!
  3. Anyone who has converted from being one thing to being another.
    • A great advantage of these temporary conversions of a man into a beast is that it enables the convert in his animal shape to pay out his enemy without being suspected. - 1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough,...
  4. The equivalent of a conversion in rugby

Origin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Proto-Indo-European *wert- Proto-Indo-European *wértetor Proto-Italic *wertō Proto-Italic *komwertō Latin convertōder. Old French convertirbor. Middle English converten English convert From Middle English converten, from Old French convertir, from Latin converto (“turn around”).

Forms

converts

Derived

passion of a convert reconvert

Verb

  1. To transform or change (something) into another form, substance, state, or product.
    • A kettle converts water into steam.
    • 1684-1690, Thomas Burnet, Sacred Theory of the Earth if the whole atmosphere were converted into water
    • That ſtill leſſens / The ſorrow, and converts it nigh to joy. - 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock]...
  2. To change (something) from one use, function, or purpose to another.
    • And the deff's further sayen that after the said b'gayn the said lambert compounded wt the said lychefeld ffor the moytie of the said Tymber stone glasse yren and tyle aforsaid by fforce whereof the said Lambert and...
    • He converted his garden into a tennis court.
    • “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; and she looked it, always trim and trig and smooth of surface like a converted yacht cleared for action. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally...
  3. To induce (someone) to adopt a particular religion, faith, ideology or belief (see also sense 12).
    • They converted her to Roman Catholicism on her deathbed.
    • No attempt was made to convert the Moslems. - 1855–1858, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson,...
    • How little chance, then, should I have against one whose brain was supernaturally sharpened, and who had two thousand years of experience, besides all manner of knowledge of the secrets of Nature at her command! Feeling...
  4. To exchange for something of equal value.
    • We converted our pounds into euros.
  5. To express (a quantity) in alternative units.
  6. To express (a unit of measurement) in terms of another; to furnish a mathematical formula by which a quantity, expressed in the former unit, may be given in the latter.
    • How do you convert feet into metres?
  7. To appropriate wrongfully or unlawfully; to commit the common law tort of conversion.
    • The grand jury claims Terrigno "knowingly converted, for the benefit of herself and others, federal funds, which were intended to help the poor and homeless in the Los Angeles area." - 1985 December 14, Gordon Gottlieb,...
  8. To score extra points after (a try) by completing a conversion.
    • Flood converted to leave Wales with a 23-9 deficit going into the final quarter. - 2011 February 4, Gareth Roberts, “Wales 19-26 England”, in BBC:
  9. To score extra points following a touchdown.
    • Bass also kicked field goals of 40 and 49 yards, but he also missed a point-after try, which led to a 2-point conversion that the Bills converted later in the game. - 2024 November 3, Jon Scott, Tommy Gallagher, “61...
  10. To score (especially a penalty kick).
    • Hinton, inevitably, converted the penalty. - 2011, Jonathan Wilson, Brian Clough: The Biography, →ISBN:
    • However, the lead was doubled after the break, when Branislav Ivanovic converted from close range after Fernando Torres had flicked on. - 2013, Mark Worrall, Kelvin Barker, David Johnstone, Making History, Not Reliving...
    • This time Polish goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski was Saints' penalty shootout hero, saving three spot kicks before centre-back Wayne Thomas converted from 12 yards to seal a 6-5 win. - 2016, Alex Crook, Alex Smith,...
  11. To score a spare.
  12. To undergo a conversion of religion, faith or belief (see also sense 3).
    • We've converted to Methodism.
    • The notion of blood purity was first elaborated in Europe, where it was used to separate Old Christians from Spain’s New Christians—women and men of Jewish and Muslim origin whose ancestors had converted to...

Forms

converts converting converted

Synonyms

convert develop draw evolve metamorphize metamorphose reconvert shift transfigurate transfigure transform transmogrify transmute transume

Antonyms

deconvert restore revert

Hypernyms

alter

Hyponyms

alchemise grow mature melt ripen

Related

conversion proselytize

Derived

bioconvert convertance convertase convertee converter convertible convertor downconvert downconversion downconverter immunoconvert interconvert misconvert phenoconvert photoconvert preach to the converted preconvert reconvert seroconvert unconvert upconvert upconversion upconverter