Emily Dickinson Lexicon

REV'ER-END, a. [Fr. from L. reverendus.]

1. Worthy of reverence; entitled to respect mingled with fear and affection; as, reverend and gracious senators. – Shak. A reverend sire among them came. – Milton.
2. A title of respect given to the clergy or ecclesiastics. We style a clergyman reverend; a bishop is styled right reverend; an archbishop most reverend. The religions in Catholic countries, are styled reverend fathers; abbesses, prioresses; &c. reverend mothers. In Scotland, as in the United States, the clergy are individually styled reverend. A synod is styled very reverend, and the general assembly venerable. – Encyc.

REV'ER-ENT, a.

1. Expressing reverence, veneration or submission; as, reverent words or terms; a reverent posture in prayer; reverent behavior.
2. Submissive; humble; impressed with reverence. They prostrate fell before him reverent. – Milton.

REV-ER-EN'TIAL, a. [from reverence.]

Proceeding from reverence, or expressing it; as, reverential fear or awe; reverential gratitude or esteem. Religion … consisting in a reverential esteem of things sacred. – South.

REV-ER-EN'TIAL-LY, adv.

With reverence, or show of reverence. – Brown.

REV'ER-ENT-LY, adv.

1. With reverence; with respectful regard. Chide him for faults, and do it reverently. – Shak.
2. With veneration; with fear of what is great or terrifying. So reverently men quit the open air, / When thunder speaks the angry gods abroad. – Dryden.

RE-VER-ER, n.

One who reveres or venerates.

REV'E-RIE, n. [See REVERY.]

RE-VER-ING, ppr.

Regarding with fear mixed with respect and affection; venerating.

RE-VERS'AL, a. [See Reverse.]

Intended to reverse; implying reverse. – Burnet.

RE-VERS'AL, n. [from reverse.]

A change or overthrowing; as, the reversal of a judgment, which amounts to an official declaration that it is false. So we speak of the reversal of an attainder or of an outlawry, by which the sentence is rendered void. – Blackstone.

RE-VERSE, n. [revers'.]

1. Change; vicissitude; a turn of affairs; in a good sense. By a strange reverse of things, Justinian's law, which for many ages was neglected, now obtains. – Baker.
2. Change for the worse; misfortune. By an unexpected reverse of circumstances, an affluent man is reduced to poverty.
3. A contrary; an opposite. The performances to which God has annexed the promises of eternity, are just the reverse of all the pursuits of sense. – Rogers.
4. [Fr. revers.] The reverse of a medal or coin is the second or back side, opposite to that on which the head or principal figure is impressed. – Encyc.

RE-VERSE, v.i. [revers'.]

To return. [Not in use.] – Spenser.

RE-VERSE, v.t. [revers; L. reversus, reverto; re and verto, to turn.]

1. To turn upside down; as, to reverse a pyramid or cone. – Temple.
2. To overturn; to subvert; as, to reverse the state. – Pope.
3. To turn back; as, with swift wheel reverse. – Milton.
4. To turn to the contrary; as, to reverse the scene. Or affectations quite reverse the soul. – Pope.
5. To put each in the place of the other; as, to reverse the distinctions of good and evil. – Rogers.
6. In law, to overthrow by a contrary decision; to make void; to annul; as, to reverse a judgment, sentence or decree. Judgments are reversed by writs of error; and for certain causes, may be reversed without such writs.
7. To recall. [Not in use.] – Spenser.

RE-VERS'ED, pp.

1. Turned side for side or end for end; changed to the contrary.
2. In law, overthrown or annulled.
3. adj. In botany, resupinate; having the upper lip larger and more expanded than the lower; as, a reversed corol. – Bigelow.

RE-VERS'ED-LY, adv.

In a reversed manner. – South.

RE-VERSE'LESS, a. [revers'less.]

Not to be reversed; irreversible. – Seward.

RE-VERSE'LY, adv. [revers'ly.]

On the other hand; on the opposite. – Pearson.

RE-VERS'I-BLE, a.

That may be reversed; as, a reversible judgment or sentence.

RE-VERS'ING, ppr.

Turning upside down; subverting; turning the contrary way; annulling.

RE-VER'SION, n. [Fr. from L. reversio.]

1. In a general sense, a returning; appropriately, in law, the returning of an estate to the grantor or his heirs, after a particular estate is ended. Hence,
2. The residue of an estate left in the grantor, to commence in possession after the determination of the particular estate granted. Thus when there is a gift in tail, the reversion of the fee is, without any special reservation, vested in the donor by act of law. – Blackstone.
3. Succession; right to future possession or enjoyment.
4. In algebra, reversion of series, a kind of reversed operation of an infinite series. – Encyc.

RE-VER'SION-A-RY, a.

Pertaining to a reversion, that is, to be enjoyed in succession, or after the determination of a particular estate; as, a reversionary interest or right.

RE-VER'SION-ER, n.

The person who has a reversion, or who is entitled to lands or tenements, after a particular estate granted is determined. – Blackstone.

RE-VERT', n.

In music, return; recurrence; antistrophy. – Peacham.

RE-VERT', v.i.

1. To return; to fall back.
2. In law, to return to the proprietor, after the determination of a particular estate. A feud granted to a man for life, or to him and his issue male, on his death or failure of issue male, reverted to the lord or proprietor.

RE-VERT', v.t. [L. reverto; re and verto, to turn.]

1. To turn back; to turn to the contrary; to reverse. Till happy chance revert the cruel scene. – Prior. [Instead of revert, in this sense, reverse is generally used.]
2. To drive or turn back; to reverberate; as, a stream reverted. – Thomson.