An inverse function is a function that reverses the effect of the original function. If you have a function f(x) that takes an input x and produces an output y, the inverse function, denoted as f⁻¹(y), takes y back to x. In simpler terms, applying the inverse function to the output of the original function returns you to the starting input. To find an inverse function, you typically swap the roles of x and y in the equation of the original function and then solve for y. Not all functions have inverses; a function must be one-to-one, meaning each output corresponds to exactly one input, to have an inverse.