# revert

/ɹiˈvɝt/ (US) · /ɹɪvˈɜːt/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/revert
Updated: 2026-08-08

## Senses

### 1. return to a former state

verb · CEFR B2

to go back to a previous way of behaving, working, or being.

For teachers: to return to a former condition, practice, or habit. Intransitive; typically takes the preposition 'to'.

- After the holiday, he quickly reverted to his old habit of waking up late.
- Without consistent maintenance, the garden will eventually revert to its natural, overgrown state within a single season.

### 2. return to a topic

verb · CEFR B2 · Formal

to start talking or thinking about a subject you were discussing before.

For teachers: to return to a previous topic of discussion or thought.

- Let us revert to the original question about the budget.
- The chairman requested that the committee revert to the main agenda once the minor points were settled.

### 3. legal return of property

verb · CEFR C1 · Technical · Formal

when property or money goes back to its original owner.

For teachers: to return to the possession of a former owner or their heirs. Intransitive; used in property and inheritance contexts.

- If the company closes, the land will revert to the local government.
- Under the terms of the trust, the estate will revert to the surviving descendants if no immediate heir is identified.

### 4. to reply

verb · CEFR B2 · Dialect

to answer a message or email.

For teachers: to reply to a piece of correspondence or a query. Common in South Asian and Southeast Asian business English.

- I will check the files and revert to you by tomorrow morning.
- The consultant promised to revert with a detailed proposal once the initial data had been reviewed by the technical team.

Usage: Commonly used in the phrase 'revert to you' meaning 'get back to you'.

Teaching tip: This usage is standard in Indian and Singaporean business English but may be considered non-standard or confusing in British or American English.

### 5. religious conversion

verb · CEFR B2

to return to a religion you followed before, or to join Islam.

For teachers: to return to a former religion; specifically used by some to describe converting to Islam based on the belief that all are born with a natural faith.

- He decided to revert to the faith of his childhood after many years.
- The community welcomed the new members who had chosen to revert after studying the theology for several months.

### 6. biological return

verb · CEFR C2 · Technical

when a plant or animal starts showing traits from its ancestors again.

For teachers: to return to an earlier or primitive type; to take on the traits of an ancestral type.

- The variegated plant might revert to plain green if it does not get enough light.
- Selective breeding is required to ensure the species does not revert to its wild-type characteristics over successive generations.

### 7. software roll-back

noun · CEFR B2 · Technical

the act of changing a computer file or database back to how it was before.

For teachers: the act of returning a database, source control repository, or software state to a previous version.

- The developer performed a revert to fix the errors caused by the last update.
- After the deployment failed, the system administrator initiated a full revert to the last stable build to minimize downtime.

## Examples

- The system will revert to its original settings after you restart it.
- After trying the new software for a week, the team decided to revert to their old workflow because it was faster.
- Despite several years of economic growth, the region began to revert to its previous state of instability following the sudden collapse of the local currency.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.