v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Converted; p. pr. & vb. n. Converting. ] [ L. convertere, -versum; con- + vertere to turn: cf. F. convertir. See Verse. ] 1. To cause to turn; to turn. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ] O, which way shall I first convert myself? B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. To change or turn from one state or condition to another; to alter in form, substance, or quality; to transform; to transmute; as, to convert water into ice. [ 1913 Webster ] If the whole atmosphere were converted into water. T. Burnet. [ 1913 Webster ] That still lessens The sorrow, and converts it nigh to joy. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. To change or turn from one belief or course to another, as from one religion to another or from one party or sect to another. [ 1913 Webster ] No attempt was made to convert the Moslems. Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. To produce the spiritual change called conversion in (any one); to turn from a bad life to a good one; to change the heart and moral character of (any one) from the controlling power of sin to that of holiness. [ 1913 Webster ] He which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death. Lames v. 20. [ 1913 Webster ] 5. To apply to any use by a diversion from the proper or intended use; to appropriate dishonestly or illegally. [ 1913 Webster ] When a bystander took a coin to get it changed, and converted it, [ it was ] held no larceny. Cooley. [ 1913 Webster ] 6. To exchange for some specified equivalent; as, to convert goods into money. [ 1913 Webster ] 7. (Logic) To change (one proposition) into another, so that what was the subject of the first becomes the predicate of the second. [ 1913 Webster ] 8. To turn into another language; to translate. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ] Which story . . . Catullus more elegantly converted. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ] Converted guns, cast-iron guns lined with wrought-iron or steel tubes. Farrow. -- Converting furnace (Steel Manuf.), a furnace in which wrought iron is converted into steel by cementation. Syn. -- To change; turn; transmute; appropriate. [ 1913 Webster ] |