CultureSeptember 3, 2026

inversion

in-VER-zhun

Definition

The act or state of being reversed in position, order, or, specifically in the context of sci-fi, the reversal of physical processes like entropy.

Etymology

Originates from the Latin word 'inversio', which means a turning upside down or an overturning. It entered English via Old French to describe the act of reversing the order or position of things.

In the news

In the film Tenet, the term refers to a scientific process that reverses a particle's entropy, causing objects and people to move backward through time.

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