Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To cause to turn away from what is right, proper, or good; debase.
  • transitive verb To corrupt (someone) morally. synonym: corrupt.
  • transitive verb To interpret incorrectly; misconstrue or distort.
  • noun One who practices sexual perversion.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who has turned aside from the right way; one who has apostatized or turned to error. Compare 'vert.
  • noun Synonyms Neophyte, Proselyte, etc. See convert.
  • To turn aside; turn another way; avert.
  • To turn from truth, from propriety, or from its proper purpose; distort from its use or end; misinterpret wilfully.
  • To turn from right opinions or right conduct; corrupt.
  • To perform the geometrical operation of perversion upon (any figure).
  • To turn aside from the right course, way, etc.; take a wrong course; become corrupt or corrupted.
  • To become a pervert or turncoat.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb rare To become perverted; to take the wrong course.
  • noun One who has been perverted; one who has turned to error, especially in religion; -- opposed to convert. See the Synonym of convert.
  • transitive verb obsolete To turnanother way; to divert.
  • transitive verb To turn from truth, rectitude, or propriety; to divert from a right use, end, or way; to lead astray; to corrupt; also, to misapply; to misinterpret designedly.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun dated One who has been perverted; one who has turned to error; one who has turned to a twisted sense of values or morals.
  • noun A sexually perverted person.
  • verb transitive To turn another way; to divert.
  • verb transitive To turn from truth, rectitude, or propriety; to divert from a right use, end, or way; to lead astray; to corrupt
  • verb To misapply; to misinterpret designedly.
  • verb intransitive To become perverted; to take the wrong course.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb change the inherent purpose or function of something
  • verb corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality
  • verb practice sophistry; change the meaning of or be vague about in order to mislead or deceive
  • noun a person whose behavior deviates from what is acceptable especially in sexual behavior

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English perverten, from Old French pervertir, from Latin pervertere : per-, per- + vertere, to turn; see wer- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French pervertir, itself from the Latin pervertō

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Examples

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  • In Scotland, a man who is more interested in women than in drinking, according to Billy Connolly.

    March 10, 2009