conversion
/kənˈvəːʃ(ə)n
/noun [mass noun]
1The process of changing or causing something to change from one form to another: the conversion of food into body tissues...
- The expenditure during the quarter ended June 2002 includes costs incurred towards the process of conversion of the company into a commercial bank.
- The exhibits explaining the process of bio energy conversion with sewage water would have been music to the ears of die-hard environmentalists.
- The characteristics of the transformed films and of the process by which conversion occurs challenge current models of the stable surfactant film.
Synonyms
change, changing, transformation, turning, altering, metamorphosis, transfiguration, transmutation, translation, sea change
humorous transmogrification
1.1The adaptation of a building or part of a building for a new use: the conversion of a house into flats [count noun]: they were carrying out a loft conversion...
- Apart from minor rebuilding necessary for conversion, the buildings will retain their present appearance.
- The new scheme involves building 18 new homes on the site plus a partial demolition of the public house buildings and conversion of the rest into four flats.
- Having looked at the project in detail however, I have come to the conclusion that conversion of the building to a shopping centre is not a viable option on a stand alone basis.
Synonyms
adaptation, reconstruction, rebuilding, redevelopment, refashioning, redesign, restyling, revamping;
renovation, rehabilitation;
alteration, modification, customization
1.2 [count noun] British A building that has been adapted for a new use: high-quality cottages and barn conversions...
- The policy also includes new property developments in existing buildings such as barn conversions.
- Now almost all new homes, including barn conversions, will only receive planning approval if they are sold at below market prices to local people with genuine housing needs.
- They include conversions at Victorian buildings including Silens Mill, in Little Germany, and Ivegate House, near City Hall.
1.3 Law The changing of real property into personalty, or of joint into separate property, or vice versa.It was held that the plaintiffs could successfully maintain an action in conversion against the defendant as they still enjoyed the general property in the car....
- They may be interests in property, as in actions for trespass and conversion; or interests in unimpaired relations with others, as in causing injury or death to relatives.
- A fortunate few have previously negotiated conversion from lease to proper title with the former laird for just the cost of the legal expenses.
1.4 Logic The transposition of the subject and predicate of a proposition according to certain rules to form a new proposition by inference.The operations of conversion, obversion, and contraposition are applied to categorical propositions to yield new categorical propositions - these can become immediate arguments....
- This is a known transformation in logic, and is called conversion by contraposition, or negative conversion.
2The fact of changing one’s religion or beliefs or the action of persuading someone else to change theirs: he insists that real conversion is a matter of the heart [count noun]: his passion for seventeenth-century literature had led the former atheist to a sudden conversion...
- The most fundamental religious experience of Newman's life was his adolescent conversion to evangelical religion.
- A conversion from one religion to another may also help one overcome ambivalence; the imagery used for God may differ from that used in childhood.
- Unlike Buddhism, Jainism did not advocate conversion to its religion and it did not spread outside the country.
Synonyms
spiritual rebirth, regeneration, reformation;
change of heart
rare proselytization
2.1 Christian Theology Repentance and change to a godly life: the individual’s responsibility in conversion is to repent and believe...
- The literary masterpiece Barrow draws on to illumine the path of conversion and repentance is Dante's Purgatorio.
- Saturday morning I lectured for another three hours on conversion and repentance.
- The monastery, that is to say, is a place of continual repentance, of constantly renewed conversion.
3 [count noun] Rugby A successful kick at goal after a try, scoring two points: Gavin Hastings landed one penalty and one conversion...
- Marcus Edwards, Scarborough's influential fly half, was instrumental in most of Scarborough's scoring, kicking all the conversions and a penalty goal.
- Bob Brown scored three conversions and two drop goals.
- Andy Bowness kicked a great conversion to level the scores from the right hand touchline.
3.1 American Football An act of converting a touchdown or a down.If this monotonous mess doesn't end after two overtimes, teams are forced to go for two points on touchdown conversions....
- The colleges introduced two-point conversions in 1957.
- He bagged two touchdowns, four conversions and a penalty.
4 (also conversion rate) (In the context of online marketing) the proportion of people viewing an advertisement and going on to buy the product, click on a link, etc. you’ll see better conversion rates for your local advertising if you include your physical address on your website keeping things simple will improve conversion...
- If you improve conversion by 1% you will make $400 a month.
- Online businesses continue to focus heavily on customer acquisition marketing, but by redirecting the same level of investment into improving conversion performance, organisations stand to see far greater returns.
- Any advertiser who is interested in increasing conversions on their website will find Website Optimizer useful.
5 Law The action of wrongfully dealing with goods in a manner inconsistent with the owner’s rights: he was found guilty of the fraudulent conversion of clients' monies...
- The legislation will simplify the law on larceny, fraudulent conversion, forgery and embezzlement.
- After two years on remand, he pleads guilty to charges of fraudulent conversion of clients' funds and is sentenced to five years in jail less remission for good behaviour and the time he has already spent awaiting trial.
- He faces 47 charges of false pretences, forgery and fraudulent conversion between 1995 and April 2001.
6 Psychiatry The manifestation of a mental disturbance as a physical disorder or disease: [as modifier]: conversion disorders...
- But hysteria lives on today in a different guise - conversion disorder.
- It was concluded that the present results provide evidence of a relationship between childhood traumatization and conversion disorder.
- What she did have was a form of conversion disorder.
Origin
Middle English (in the sense 'turning of sinners to God'): via Old French from Latin conversio(n-), from convers- 'turned about', from the verb convertere (see convert).