-vert-, -vers-
-Vert- and the form we find in nouns, -vers-, come from the Latin word vertere, meaning "to turn." Revert, for example, means "turn back" or "return." Its noun forms are reverse and reversion, meaning "turned back."
Convertible is a term popularized by the automobile industry in the 1950s, although use of the word is far from being limited to autos. The term uses a meaning of the root -vert- that indicates "to change," and means "changeable."
Based on this information about the root -vert-, how might you explain the derivation of the words vertical and versus? Perhaps vertical developed through the concept of being turned on end, while versus could have developed from usage that indicated turned against, as in "the Angels versus the Twins."
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