The act of involving or infolding. [1913 Webster]
The state of being entangled or involved; complication; entanglement. [1913 Webster]
"All things are mixed, and causes blended, by mutual involutions." [1913 Webster]
That in which anything is involved, folded, or wrapped; envelope. Sir T. Browne. [1913 Webster]
The insertion of one or more clauses between the subject and the verb, in a way that involves or complicates the construction. [1913 Webster]
The act or process of raising a quantity to any power assigned; the multiplication of a quantity into itself a given number of times; -- the reverse of evolution. [1913 Webster]
The relation which exists between three or more sets of points, a.a′, b.b′, c.c′, so related to a point O on the line, that the product Oa.Oa′ = Ob.Ob′ = Oc.Oc′ is constant. Sets of lines or surfaces possessing corresponding properties may be in involution. [1913 Webster]
The return of an enlarged part or organ to its normal size, as of the uterus after pregnancy. [1913 Webster]

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

involution, n.
1 the process of involving.
2 an entanglement.
3 intricacy.
4 curling inwards.
5 a part that curls upwards.
6 Math. the raising of a quantity to any power.
7 Physiol. the reduction in size of an organ in old age, or when its purpose has been fulfilled (esp. the uterus after childbirth).

Derivative

involutional adj.

Etymology

L involutio (as INVOLVE)

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THESAURUS

involution

absorption, addition, ambages, anfractuosity, approximation, circuitousness, circumambages, circumbendibus, circumlocution, circumvolution, comedown, complexity, complexness, complication, convolution, crabbedness, crinkle, crinkling, debasement, decadence, decadency, declension, declination, decline, deformation, degeneracy, degenerateness, degeneration, degradation, demotion, depravation, depravedness, depreciation, derogation, descent, deterioration, devolution, differentiation, division, downtrend, downturn, downward mobility, downward trend, drop, dying, ebb, effeteness, embarrassment, engagement, enmeshment, entanglement, equation, evolution, extrapolation, fading, failing, failure, failure of nerve, fall, falling-off, flexuosity, flexuousness, implication, inclusion, integration, interpolation, intorsion, intricacy, intricateness, inversion, involvement, lapse, loss of tone, meander, meandering, multiplication, notation, perplexity, practice, proportion, ramification, reduction, regression, relation, retrocession, retrogradation, retrogression, rivulation, sinuation, sinuosity, sinuousness, slinkiness, slippage, slump, snakiness, subtlety, subtraction, tanglement, technicality, torsion, tortility, tortuosity, tortuousness, transformation, turning, twisting, undulation, wane, wave, waving, winding

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ROGET THESAURUS

involution

Obscurity

N obscurity, involution, hard words, ambiguity, unintelligibleness, vagueness &c, inexactness, what d'ye call 'em, darkness of meaning, obscure, crabbed, involved, confused.

Complexity

N complexity, complexness, complexus, complication, implication, intricacy, intrication, perplexity, network, labyrinth, wilderness, jungle, involution, raveling, entanglement, coil, sleave, tangled skein, knot, Gordian knot, wheels within wheels, kink, gnarl, knarl, webwork, difficulty, gnarled, knarled, complex, complexed, intricate, complicated, perplexed, involved, raveled, entangled, knotted, tangled, inextricable, irreducible.

Numeration

N numeration, numbering, pagination, tale, recension, enumeration, summation, reckoning, computation, supputation, calculation, calculus, algorithm, algorism, rhabdology, dactylonomy, measurement, statistics, arithmetic, analysis, algebra, geometry, analytical geometry, fluxions, differential calculus, integral calculus, infinitesimal calculus, calculus of differences, dead reckoning, muster, poll, census, capitation, roll call, recapitulation, account, notation, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, rule of three, practice, equations, extraction of roots, reduction, involution, evolution, estimation, approximation, interpolation, differentiation, integration, abacus, logometer, slide rule, slipstick, tallies, Napier's bones, calculating machine, difference engine, suan- pan, adding machine, cash register, electronic calculator, calculator, computer, arithmetician, calculator, abacist, algebraist, mathematician, statistician, geometer, programmer, accountant, auditor, numeral, numerical, arithmetical, analytic, algebraic, statistical, numerable, computable, calculable, commensurable, commensurate, incommensurable, incommensurate, innumerable, unfathomable, infinite, quantitatively, arithmetically, measurably, in numbers.

Convolution

N convolution, winding, convolution, involution, circumvolution, wave, undulation, tortuosity, anfractuosity, sinuosity, sinuation, meandering, circuit, circumbendibus, twist, twirl, windings and turnings, ambages, torsion, inosculation, reticulation, rivulation, roughness, coil, roll, curl, buckle, spiral, helix, corkscrew, worm, volute, rundle, tendril, scollop, scallop, escalop, kink, ammonite, snakestone, serpent, eel, maze, labyrinth, knot, convoluted, winding, twisted, tortile, tortive, wavy, undated, undulatory, circling, snaky, snake-like, serpentine, serpent, anguill, vermiform, vermicular, mazy, tortuous, sinuous, flexuous, anfractuous, reclivate, rivulose, scolecoid, sigmoid, sigmoidal, spiriferous, spiroid, involved, intricate, complicated, perplexed, labyrinth, labyrinthic, labyrinthian, labyrinthine, peristaltic, daedalian, kinky, knotted, wreathy, frizzly, crepe, buckled, raveled, spiral, coiled, helical, cochleate, cochleous, screw-shaped, turbinated, turbiniform, in and out, round and round, a can of worms, Gordian knot.

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