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involution

Pronunciation: /ɪnvəˈl(j)uːʃ(ə)n/

Definition of involution

noun

  • 1 [mass noun] Physiology the shrinkage of an organ in old age or when inactive, e.g. of the womb after childbirth.
  • 2 Mathematics a function, transformation, or operator that is equal to its inverse, i.e. which gives the identity when applied to itself.
  • 3 [mass noun] formal the process of complicating something, or the state of being complicated:periods of artistic involution

Derivatives

involutional

adjective

Origin:

late Middle English (in the sense ( 'part) curling inwards'): from Latin involutio(n-), from involvere (see involve)

involution in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of involution in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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