'Subvert' is Latin for 'turn from underneath' — attacking foundations. Kin to 'reverse' and 'convert.'
To undermine the power and authority of an established system or institution; to overthrow or destroy from the foundations.
From Latin 'subvertere' (to turn from below, to overturn completely, to overthrow, to ruin), composed of 'sub-' (from below, underneath) + 'vertere' (to turn), from PIE *wer- (to turn, to bend). The PIE root *wer- is enormously productive: it gave Latin 'versus' (turned, a line of writing turned back on itself), 'version,' 'verse,' 'vertebra,' 'vertigo' (a spinning sensation), 'universe' (turned into one), and 'anniversary' (the year turns again). Through Germanic it produced
During the Cold War, 'subversion' became one of the most politically charged words in English. The House Un-American Activities Committee and Senator McCarthy used 'subversive' to label anyone suspected of Communist sympathies — turning the Latin image of overturning foundations into a tool of political persecution.