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involution

 - 4 dictionary results

in⋅vo⋅lu⋅tion

  [in-vuh-loo-shuhn]
Use involution in a Sentence
–noun
1. an act or instance of involving or entangling; involvement.
2. the state of being involved.
3. something complicated.
4. Botany, Zoology.
a. a rolling up or folding in upon itself.
b. a part so formed.
5. Biology. retrograde development; degeneration.
6. Physiology. the regressive changes in the body occurring with old age.
7. Grammar. a complex construction in which the subject is separated from its predicate by intervening clauses or phrases.
8. Mathematics. a function that is its own inverse.
Origin:
1605–15; < ML involūtiōn- (s. of involūtiō). See involute, -ion
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To involution
in·vo·lu·tion   (ĭn'və-lōō'shən)   
n.  

    1. The act of involving.

    2. The state of being involved.

    3. A decrease in size of an organ, as of the uterus following childbirth.

    4. A progressive decline or degeneration of normal physiological functioning occurring as a result of the aging process.

  2. Intricacy; complexity.

  3. Something, such as a long grammatical construction, that is intricate or complex.

  4. Mathematics An operation, such as negation, which, when applied to itself, returns the original number.

  5. Embryology The ingrowth and curling inward of a group of cells, as in the formation of a gastrula from a blastula.

  6. Medicine

    1. A decrease in size of an organ, as of the uterus following childbirth.

    2. A progressive decline or degeneration of normal physiological functioning occurring as a result of the aging process.


[Latin involūtiō, involūtiōn-, from involūtus, past participle of involvere, to enwrap; see involve.]
in'vo·lu'tion·al adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: in·vo·lu·tion
Pronunciation: "in-v&-'lü-sh&n
Function: noun
1 a : an inward curvature or penetration b : the formation of a gastrula by ingrowth of cells formed at the dorsal lip
2 : a shrinking or return to a former size <involution of the uterus afterpregnancy>
3 : the regressive alterations of a body or its parts characteristic of the aging process; specifically : decline marked by a decrease of bodily vigorand in women by menopause
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

involution in·vo·lu·tion (ĭn'və-l&oomacr;'shən)
n.

  1. A decrease in size of an organ, as of the uterus following childbirth.

  2. The ingrowth and curling inward of a group of cells, as in the formation of a gastrula from a blastula.

  3. A progressive decline or degeneration of normal physiological functioning occurring as a result of the aging process. Also called catagenesis.

in'vo·lu'tion·al adj.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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