Origin and history of reversible

early 14c., reversen, (transitive), "change, alter" (a sense now obsolete); late 14c., "turn (someone or something) in an opposite direction, turn the other way, turn inside out," also in a general sense, "alter to the opposite;" from Old French reverser "reverse, turn around; roll, turn up" (12c.), from Late Latin reversare "turn about, turn back," frequentative of Latin revertere "turn back, turn about; come back, return" (see revert).

From c. 1400 as "turn (something) upside down;" from early 15c. as "go backward" (intransitive). Of judicial sentences, "set aside, make void," mid-15c. In mechanics, "cause to revolve or act in a contrary direction," by 1860; the sense of "put a motor vehicle in reverse gear" is by 1902. Related: Reversed; reversing.

1620s, of decrees, etc., "that cannot be overturned or undone," from assimilated form of in- (1) "not, opposite of" + reversible. Of physical things, "that cannot be turned the other way," from 1821. Related: Irreversibly.

word-forming element making adjectives from verbs, borrowed in Middle English from Old French -ible and directly from Latin adjective suffix -ibilis (properly -bilis); see -able.