involution
noun
[ ɪnvəˈl(j)uːʃ(ə)n ]
• the shrinkage of an organ in old age or when inactive, e.g. of the uterus after childbirth.
• a function, transformation, or operator that is equal to its inverse, i.e. which gives the identity when applied to itself.
• the process of complicating something, or the state of being complicated.
• "periods of artistic involution"
Origin:
late Middle English (in the sense (‘part) curling inwards’): from Latin involutio(n- ), from involvere (see involve).
