from
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
TO REVERSE, practice. The decision of a superior court by which the judgment,
sentence or decree of the inferior court is annulled.
2. After a judgment, sentence or decree has been rendered by the court
below, a writ of error may be issued from the superior to the inferior
tribunal, when the record and all proceedings are sent to the supreme court
on the return to the writ of error. When, on the examination of the record,
the superior court gives a judgment different from the inferior court, they
are said to reverse the proceeding. As to the effect of a reversal, see 9 C.
& P. 513 S, C. 38 E. C. L. Rep. 201.