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Retort vs Revert - What's the difference?

retort | revert |

Revert is a synonym of retort.



As nouns the difference between retort and revert

is that retort is a sharp or witty reply, or one which turns an argument against its originator; a comeback while revert is one who, or that which, reverts.

As verbs the difference between retort and revert

is that retort is to say something sharp or witty in answer to a remark or accusation while revert is to turn back, or turn to the contrary; to reverse.

retort

English

(wikipedia retort)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) retortus, from .

Noun

(en noun)
  • A sharp or witty reply, or one which turns an argument against its originator; a comeback.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To say something sharp or witty in answer to a remark or accusation.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1905, author=
  • , title= , chapter=1 citation , passage=“It is a pity,” he retorted with aggravating meekness, “that they do not use a little common sense. The case resembles that of Columbus' ?egg, and is every bit as simple. […]”}}
  • To make a remark which reverses an argument upon its originator; to return, as an argument, accusation, censure, or incivility.
  • to retort the charge of vanity
  • * Milton
  • And with retorted scorn his back he turned.
  • To bend or curve back.
  • a retorted line
  • * Southey
  • With retorted head, pruned themselves as they floated.
  • To throw back; to reverberate; to reflect.
  • * Shakespeare
  • As when his virtues, shining upon others, / Heat them and they retort that heat again / To the first giver.
    Synonyms
    * (sharp reply) comeback, rejoinder, back answer

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) retorte.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (chemistry) A flask with a rounded base and a long neck that is bent down and tapered, used to heat a liquid for distillation.
  • :* 1893', A large curved ' retort was boiling furiously in the bluish flame of a Bunsen burner, and the distilled drops were condensing into a two-litre measure. — Arthur Conan Doyle, ‘The Naval Treaty’ (Norton 2005, p.670)
  • A container in which material is subjected to high temperatures]] as part of an industrial manufacturing process, especially during the smelting and [[forge, forging of metal.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To heat in a retort.
  • revert

    English

    (reversion)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One who, or that which, reverts.
  • (in Muslim usage, due to the belief that all people are born Muslim) A convert to Islam.
  • * 1997 , Islamic Society of North America, Islamic horizons , page 27:
  • * 2001 , Islamic Society of North America, Islamic horizons
  • Parents should not reject a proposal without good reason — and being a revert with a past is not an acceptable one.
  • * 2010 , Kurt J. Werthmuller, Coptic Identity and Ayyubid Politics in Egypt: 1218-1250 (page 77)
  • genuine — if intentionally vague — concern for the secretive community of Christian converts and reverts
  • (computing) The act of reversion (of e.g. a database transaction or source control repository) to an earlier state.
  • We've found that git reverts are at least an order of magnitude faster than SVN reverse merges.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (now rare) To turn back, or turn to the contrary; to reverse.
  • * Prior
  • Till happy Chance reverts the cruel scene.
  • * Thomson
  • The tumbling stream / Reverted , plays in undulating flow.
  • To throw back; to reflect; to reverberate.
  • To cause to return to a former condition.
  • (now rare) To return; to come back.
  • * Shakespeare
  • So that my arrows / Would have reverted to my bow again.
  • To return to the possession of.
  • # (legal) Of an estate: To return to its former owner, or to his or her heirs, when a grant comes to an end.
  • To cause (a property or rights) to return to the previous owner.
  • To return to a former practice, condition, belief, etc.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
  • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=2 citation , passage=Now that she had rested and had fed from the luncheon tray Mrs. Broome had just removed, she had reverted to her normal gaiety.  She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.}}
  • (biology) To return to an earlier or primitive type or state; to take on the traits or characters of an ancestral type.
  • To change back, as from a soluble to an insoluble state or the reverse.
  • To return to a previous subject of discourse or thought.
  • (intransitive, in Muslim usage, due to the belief that all people are born Muslim) To convert to Islam.
  • * 1995 , Wiz?rat al-I?l?m wa-al-Thaq?fah, Sudanow: Volume 20
  • He added that Islam is the religion of justice which rejects injustice, referring to the case of Mike Tyson and how he has become a real problem to the West since he reverted to Islam.
  • * 1997 , Islamic Society of North America, Islamic horizons
  • The mission of 'translating' the Qur'an had preoccupied Pickthall's mind since he reverted to Islam.
  • * 2003 , Islamic Revival Association, Al Jumu?ah: Volume 15, Issues 7-12
  • But once he reverted to Islam, he attended as many lectures as he could, listened to Islamic tapes and the recitations of Qur'an. Subtly and gradually his moods were stabilized, and he started to have positive outlook on life.
  • (intransitive, nonstandard, proscribed) To reply; to come back.
  • (math) To treat (a series, such as y = a + bx + cx2 + ...'', where one variable ''y'' is expressed in powers of a second variable ''x''), so as to find the second variable ''x'' expressed in a series arranged in powers of ''y .