involution

(in′və lo̵̅o̅s̸hən)

noun

  1. an involving or being involved; entanglement
  2. anything that is involved; complication; intricacy
  3. Anat. the process of rolling or curling inward, as in the formation of a gastrula
  4. Biol. a retrograde or degenerative change
  5. Gram. an involved construction, esp. one created by a clause interposed between a subject and its predicate
  6. Math. the raising of a quantity to any given power
  7. Med.
    1. the return of an organ to its normal size after distention, as of the womb after childbirth
    2. a decline in the normal functions of the human body, or of an organ, that occurs with age, as the changes taking place at menopause

Origin: L involutio < involutus, pp. of involvere

Related Forms:

See involution in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. a. The act of involving.
    b. The state of being involved.
  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
    a. A decrease in size of an organ, as of the uterus following childbirth.
    b. A progressive decline or degeneration of normal physiological functioning occurring as a result of the aging process.

Origin:

Origin: Latin involūtiō, involūtiōn-

Origin: , from involūtus

Origin: , past participle of involvere, to enwrap; see involve

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Related Forms:

  • inˌvo·luˈtion·al adjective

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