conversion

conversion [kən vʉr′zhən, kən vʉr′shən]

n.

[ME conversioun < OFr conversion < L conversio < pp. of convertere: see CONVERT]

1. a converting or being converted; specif.,

a) a change from lack of faith to religious belief; adoption of a religion

b) a change from one belief, religion, doctrine, opinion, etc. to another

2. Finance

a) an exchange of one kind or class or security for another

b) an exchange of a currency for an equivalent amount of another currency or precious metal

☆ 3. Football

a) an additional scoring opportunity of a point or two, as by kicking, passing, or running with the ball, awarded to a team after it scores a touchdown

b) the score so made

4. Rugby a somewhat similar play as in football that scores two points after a try

5. Law

a) unlawful appropriation or use of another's property, resulting in a deprivation of ownership rights

b) an exchange of property from real to personal, or the reverse, as for settling the terms of a will: in full equitable conversion

6. Logic the interchanging of the terms of a proposition [by conversion, “All of A is B” becomes “All of B is A”]

7. Math. a change in the form of a quantity, a unit, or an expression without a change in the value

8. Psychiatry a mechanism by which emotional conflict is transformed into an apparent physical disability affecting the sensory or voluntary motor systems and having symbolic meaning: also conversion reaction and Archaic conversion hysteria

conversional

adj.

conversionary [kən vʉr′zhəner΄ē, kən vʉr′shəner΄ē]