convert

Etymology

From Old French convertir, from Latin converto (“turn around”).

verb

1. (transitive) 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
   Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: the ability to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates and waste oxygen using solar energy. 2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist
2. (transitive) To change (something) from one use, function, or purpose to another.
   He converted his garden into a tennis court.
3. (transitive) To induce (someone) to adopt a particular religion, faith, ideology or belief (see also sense 11).
   They converted her to Roman Catholicism on her deathbed.
   One old chap on a huge slotting machine was intensely religious and made great efforts to convert every young man who came his way. 1944 September and October, A Former Student, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—I”, in Railway Magazine, page 285
4. (transitive) To exchange for something of equal value.
   We converted our pounds into euros.
5. (transitive) To express (a quantity) in alternative units.
6. (transitive) 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. (transitive, law) To appropriate wrongfully or unlawfully; to commit the common law tort of conversion.
8. (transitive, intransitive, rugby football) 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. February 4, 2011, Gareth Roberts, “http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/9386391.stm Wales 19-26 England]”, in BBC
9. (transitive or intransitive, soccer) To score (especially a penalty kick).
   Hinton, inevitably, converted the penalty. 2011, Jonathan Wilson, Brian Clough: The Biography
   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 It: A Decade of Roman's Rule at Chelsea, page 225
   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, Southampton Greatest Games: Saints' Fifty Finest Matches
10. (intransitive, ten-pin bowling) To score a spare.
11. (intransitive) To undergo a conversion of religion, faith or belief (see also sense 3).
    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 Christianity. 2009, Irene Silverblatt, “Foreword”, in Andrew B. Fisher, Matthew D. O'hara, editors, Imperial Subjects: Race and Identity in Colonial Latin America, page xi
    We’ve converted to Methodism.
12. (intransitive) To become converted.
    The chair converts into a bed.
13. (transitive, obsolete) To cause to turn; to turn.
    O, which way shall I first convert myself?
14. (transitive, logic) To change (one proposition) into another, so that what was the subject of the first becomes the predicate of the second.
15. (transitive, obsolete) To turn into another language; to translate.
    which story[…]Catullus more elegantly converted 1609, Ben Jonson, The Masque of Queens
16. (transitive, cricket) To increase one's individual score, especially from 50 runs (a fifty) to 100 runs (a century), or from a century to a double or triple century.
    Gillespie was reminded he had promised to join team-mate Matthew Hayden in a nude lap of the ground if he converted his century into a double. 2006, Gillespie hails 'fairytale' knock, BBC
17. (intransitive, marketing) To perform the action that an online advertisement is intended to induce; to reach the point of conversion.
    Each time a user clicks on one of your adverts, you will be charged the bid amount whether the user converts or not.
18. (transitive, intransitive, chess) To transform a material or positional advantage into a win.
    On the final day Marshall won a pawn as Black from another old rival, Hodges, but couldn't convert it and played on until a drawn king-and-pawn endgame. 1994, Andrew Soltis, Frank Marshall, United States Chess Champion, McFarland, Inc, page 262
    In a serious game, the same event often takes place: the attacking side, out of pure inertia, tries to convert an advantage which he or she no longer has, thus giving the defending side winning chances. 2012, Daniel Naroditsky, Mastering Complex Endgames, New In Chess, page 56
    Black has survived the attack and is better due to his active king! Many moves later, he converted. 2021, Frank Erwich, 1001 Chess Exercises for Advanced Club Players, New In Chess

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 French Riviera: A Literary Guide for Travellers, Tauris Parke Paperbacks, published 2007, page 64
2. A person who is now in favour of something that he or she 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. (Canadian football) The equivalent of a conversion in rugby