PERVER'SION, noun [Latin perversus.] The act of perverting; a turning from truth or propriety; a diverting from the true intent or object; change to something worse. We speak of the perversion of the laws, when they are misinterpreted or misapplied; a perversion of reason, when it is misemployed; a perversion of Scripture, when it is willfully misinterpreted or misapplied, etc.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI