mid-15c., in legal case names, denoting action of one party against another, from Latin versus "turned toward or against," from past participle of vertere (frequentative versare) "to turn, turn back, be turned, convert, transform, translate, be changed," from PIE *wert- "to turn, wind," from root *wer- (3) "to turn, bend" (cognates: Old English -weard "toward," originally "turned toward," weorthan "to befall," wyrd "fate, destiny," literally "what befalls one;" Sanskrit vartate "turns round, rolls;" Avestan varet- "to turn;" Old Church Slavonic vr?teti "to turn, roll," Russian vreteno "spindle, distaff;" Lithuanian ver ?iu "to turn;" Greek rhatane "stirrer, ladle;" German werden, Old English weorean "to become" (for sense, compare turn into); Welsh gwerthyd "spindle, distaff;" Old Irish frith "against").
例文
1. The green debate tends to polarise into science-as-saviour versus science-as-devil camps.