Main Entry: re·ver·sion

Pronunciation: \ri-ˈvər-zhən, -shən\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin reversion-, reversio act of returning, from revertere

Date: 15th century

1 a : the part of a simple estate remaining in the control of its owner after the owner has granted therefrom a lesser particular estate b : a future interest in property left in the control of a grantor or the grantor's successor
2 : the right of succession or future possession or enjoyment
3 a : an act or the process of returning (as to a former condition) b : a return toward an ancestral type or condition : reappearance of an ancestral character
4 : an act or instance of turning the opposite way : the state of being so turned
5 : a product of reversion; specifically : an organism with an atavistic character : throwback