turn - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂

Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂

Proto-Italic *-āō

English turn

From Middle English turnen, from Old English turnian, tyrnan (“to turn, rotate, revolve”), from Proto-West Germanic *turnēn (“to turn, lathe”) (also the source of German turnen and its derivatives) and Old French torner (“to turn”), both from Latin tornāre (“to round off, turn in a lathe”), from tornus (“lathe”), from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos, “turning-lathe: a tool used for making circles”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub, rub by turning, turn, twist, bore”). Cognate with Old English þrāwan (“to turn, twist, wind”), whence English throw. Displaced native Middle English wenden from Old English wendan (see wend), and Middle English trenden from Old English trendan (see trend), among several other terms.

turn (third-person singular simple present turns, present participle turning, simple past and past participle turned or (obsolete) turnt)

  1. To make a non-linear physical movement.
    1. (intransitive, of a body, person, etc) To move about an axis through itself.
      the Earth turns
      turn on the spot
      • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
        "A fine man, that Dunwody, yonder," commented the young captain, as they parted, and as he turned to his prisoner. "We'll see him on in Washington some day. He is strengthening his forces now against Mr. Benton out there. […]."
    2. (transitive) To change the direction or orientation of, especially by rotation.
      Turn the knob clockwise.
      • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], “The First Gun”, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, pages 9–10:
        It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the roof of the tallest hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, with the back turned on the rick and nothing in front but the tall elms and the oaks in the other hedge, it was quite easy to fancy it the verge of the prairie with the backwoods close by.
      • 2013 July-August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in American Scientist:
        Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.
    3. (intransitive) To change one's direction of travel.
      She turned right at the corner.
      • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 12:
        I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railroad station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town.
      • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
        I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.
    4. (transitive) To shape (something) symmetrically by rotating it against a stationary cutting tool, as on a lathe.
      She turned the table legs with care and precision.
    5. (by extension) To give form to; to shape or mould; to adapt.
    6. (transitive) To direct or impel (something) into or out of a place.
      Add sugar and butter, then turn the mixture into a dish.
      The farmer turned the cows into a field.
      • 1927, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados Mysteries:
        You were not wont to turn young and beautiful suppliants from your office door. What is the real reason of this professional reluctance on your part?
    7. (transitive) To position (something) by folding it, or using its folds.
      turn the bed covers; turn the pages
    8. (transitive, figuratively) To navigate through a book or other printed material.
      turn to page twenty; turn through the book
    9. (transitive) To twist or sprain.
      I fell off my bike and turned my ankle severely.
    10. (transitive, cricket) Of a bowler, to make (the ball) move sideways off the pitch when it bounces.
    11. (intransitive, cricket) Of a ball, to move sideways off the pitch when it bounces.
  2. (intransitive or transitive) To change condition or attitude.
    1. (copulative) To become (often used with colors, clear sudden changes, weather and ages).
      Near-synonyms: become, get, go, come, fall, grow, wax
      The leaves turn brown in autumn.
      When I asked him for the money, he turned nasty.
      Charlie turns six on September 29.
      • 1697, [William] Congreve, The Mourning Bride, a Tragedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act III, page 39:
        Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, / Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman ſcorn'd.
      • 2007, Junius P. Rodriguez, Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World:
        The former-slaves-turned-abolitionists Quobna Ottobah Cugoano and Olaudah Equiano were the chief organizers of the Sons of Africa.
      • 2012 April 21, Jonathan Jurejko, “Newcastle 3-0 Stoke”, in BBC Sport:
        The midfielder turned provider moments later, his exquisite reverse pass perfectly weighted for Cisse to race on to and slide past Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic.
    2. (intransitive) To change the color of the leaves in the autumn.
      The hillside behind our house isn't generally much to look at, but once all the trees turn it's gorgeous.
    3. To change fundamentally; to metamorphose.
      Midas made everything turn to gold. He turned into a monster every full moon.
      • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Silverside”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 300:
        At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of that false modesty which condescends, turning technicality into pabulum.
      • 2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:
        Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.
      1. (intransitive) To sour or spoil; to go bad.
        This milk has turned; it smells awful.
      2. (transitive) To make acid or sour; to ferment; to curdle.
        to turn cider or wine
      3. (transitive, fantasy) To change (a person) into a vampire, werewolf, zombie, etc.
        How long ago was he turned?
        * 2017, Michael J. Totten, Into the Wasteland: A Zombie Novel:
        His companions had turned him on purpose. Annie, bless her heart, was immune.
      4. (intransitive, fantasy) To transform into a vampire, werewolf, zombie, etc.
        Bruce Banner turns when he is angry: he becomes the Hulk, an incredibly powerful green monster.
      5. (transitive, slang, sometimes offensive) To change the sexual orientation or gender of another person, or otherwise awaken a sexual preference.
        * 2009 September 10, W. C. Harris, Queer Externalities: Hazardous Encounters in American Culture, State University of New York Press, →ISBN, page 154:
        We may not be made gay or lesbian in the sense of being “turned” by some error in parenting or child rearing, but we are certainly biologically made and raised (most of us) by straights.
        * 2023 May 15, Eliot Borenstein, Marvel Comics in the 1970s: The World Inside Your Head, Cornell University Press, →ISBN, page 244:
        An old homophobic fantasy has it that a gay man or lesbian can be “turned” by a fulfilling sexual encounter with someone of the opposite sex
    4. To hinge; to depend.
      The decision turns on a single fact.
    5. To rebel; to go against something formerly tolerated.
      The prisoners turned on the warden.
      • 1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, →OCLC:
        ‘You little Fool!’ returned her sister, shaking her with the sharp pull she gave her arm. ‘Have you no spirit at all? But that’s just the way! You have no self-respect, you have no becoming pride, just as you allow yourself to be followed about by a contemptible little Chivery of a thing,’ with the scornfullest emphasis, ‘you would let your family be trodden on, and never turn.’
    6. To change personal condition.
      1. (professional wrestling) To change personalities, such as from being a face (good guy) to heel (bad guy) or vice versa.
      2. (ambitransitive) To make or become giddy; said of the head or brain.
        * c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vii], page 302, column 2:
        Ile looke no more, / Leaſt my braine turne, […]
      3. To sicken; to nauseate.
        The sight turned my stomach.
      4. To be nauseated; said of the stomach.
  3. (reflexive) To change one's course of action; to take a new approach.
  4. (transitive, usually with over) To complete.
    They say they can turn the parts in two days.
  5. (transitive) To make (money); turn a profit.
    We turned a pretty penny with that little scheme.
  6. (transitive, soccer) Of a player, to go past an opposition player with the ball in one's control.
    • 2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport:
      Liverpool introduced Carroll for Spearing and were rewarded after 64 minutes when he put them back in contention. Stewart Downing blocked Jose Bosingwa's attempted clearance, which fell into the path of Carroll. He turned John Terry superbly before firing high past Cech.
  7. To undergo the process of turning on a lathe.
    Ivory turns well.
  8. (obstetrics) To bring down the feet of a child in the womb, in order to facilitate delivery.
  9. (printing, dated) To invert a type of the same thickness, as a temporary substitute for any sort which is exhausted.
  10. (archaic) To translate.
    to turn the Iliad
  1. (transitive, roleplaying games) To magically or divinely repel undead.

move around an axis through itself

change the direction or orientation of, especially by rotation

change one's direction of travel

give form to; shape or mould

navigate through a book or other printed material

in cricket, make the ball move sideways when it bounces

of a cricket ball, move sideways when it bounces

become

of leaves, change color in autumn

transitive: change fundamentally

go bad

fantasy: change into a mythical being

reach a certain age

rebel

wrestling: change personalities

be nauseated (said of the stomach)

change one's course of action; take a new approach

make money; turn a profit

soccer: go past an opposition player with the ball in one's control

obstetrics: bring down the feet of a child in the womb, in order to facilitate delivery

printing: invert a type of the same thickness

role-playing game: magically or divinely attack undead

Translations to be checked

Partly from Anglo-Norman *torn, from Latin tornus, from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos), and partly an action noun from the verb turn.

turn (plural turns)

A: Turn (17)
B: Round turn
C: Two round turns

  1. A change of direction or orientation.
    Give the handle a turn, then pull it.
    • 1910, Emerson Hough, “A Lady in Company”, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      With just the turn of a shoulder she indicated the water front, where […] lay the good ship, Mount Vernon, river packet, the black smoke already pouring from her stacks. In turn he smiled and also shrugged a shoulder.
  2. A movement of an object about its own axis in one direction that continues until the object returns to its initial orientation.
    1. (geometry) A unit of plane angle measurement based on this movement.
  3. A walk to and fro.
    Synonym: promenade
    Let's take a turn in the garden.
    • 1923, Ernest Bramah, The Eyes of Max Carrados:
      "I've made a turn round the place, sir, and the light was on," was the reply.
  4. A chance to use something shared in sequence with others.
    They took turns playing with the new toy.
    • 1910, Emerson Hough, “A Lady in Company”, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      With just the turn of a shoulder she indicated the water front, where […] lay the good ship, Mount Vernon, river packet, the black smoke already pouring from her stacks. In turn he smiled and also shrugged a shoulder.
  5. A spell of work, especially the time allotted to a person in a rota or schedule.
    I cooked tonight, so it's your turn to do the dishes.
  6. One's chance to make a move in a game having two or more players.
  7. A figure in music, often denoted ~, consisting of the note above the one indicated, the note itself, the note below the one indicated, and the note itself again.
  8. The time required to complete a project.
    Synonym: turnaround
    They quote a three-day turn on parts like those.
  9. The transition from one period or era, or hour on the clock, to another.
    turn of the century
    • 1923, Ernest Bramah, The Eyes of Max Carrados:
      […] by cajolery and innuendo she had persuaded him to go to the picture palace to be cheered up, and as it was now on the turn of eleven he might be expected back at any moment.
    • 1990, Ferenc Glatz, Etudes historiques hongroises 1990: Ethnicity and society in Hungary:
      By about 1300, Hungary's population was three times what it had been at the turn of the millenium.
    • 1997, A People's Poetry: Hen Benillion, Seren Books:
      […] As long as ocean water's salt, And birch-trees feel the winds' assault, And crows build nests at winter's turn, Darling, I shall never return.
    • 2020 December 17, Colin Chambers, Black and Asian Theatre In Britain: A History, Routledge, →ISBN, page 1835:
      Writers arrive, in extremely small numbers, only at the turn of the Victorian era into the Edwardian era when modern Pan-Africanism was being born.
  10. A fit or a period of giddiness.
    I've had a funny turn.
  1. A change in temperament or circumstance.
    She took a turn for the worse.
  2. (cricket) A sideways movement of the ball when it bounces (caused by rotation in flight).
  3. (poker) The fourth communal card in Texas hold 'em.
  4. (poker, obsolete) The flop (the first three community cards) in Texas hold 'em.
  5. A deed done to another; an act of kindness or malice.
    One good turn deserves another.
    I felt that the man was of a vindictive nature, and would do me an evil turn if he found the opportunity […].
  6. A single loop of a coil.
  7. (rope) A pass behind or through an object.
  8. Character; personality; nature.
  1. (soccer) An instance of going past an opposition player with the ball in one's control.
  2. (circus, theater, especially physical comedy) A short skit, act, or routine.
  1. (printing, dated) A type turned upside down to serve for another character that is not available.
  2. (UK, finance, historical) The profit made by a stockjobber, being the difference between the buying and selling prices.

change of direction or orientation

movement about an axis ending up with the same orientation — see also exit,‎ route

geometry: unit of plane angle measurement based on this movement

walk to and fro — see also pace

spell of work

one's chance to make a move in a game

fit or period of giddiness

cricket: sideways movement of a ball

poker: fourth communal card in Texas hold 'em

poker, obsolete: flop — see flop

single loop of a coil

rope: pass behind or through an object

character; personality; nature

soccer: instance of going past an opposition player with the ball in one's control

circus, theatre: short skit, act, or routine

printing: type turned upside down to serve for another character that is not available

finance: profit made by a stockjobber, difference between the buying and selling prices

Borrowed from English turn.

turn

  1. (poker) turn (fourth communal card in Texas hold'em)

From Latin turris (“tower”). Cognate with Danish tårn and German Turm. First appears in the 12th or 13th century.

turn m (genitive singular turns, nominative plural turnar)

  1. tower

Inherited from Old High German turn.

turn m

  1. tower

From the verb turne; compare with German Turnen.

turn m (indeclinable) (uncountable)

  1. gymnastics (an athletic discipline)

From the verb turne.

turn m (uncountable)

  1. gymnastics (an athletic discipline)

Borrowed from Old French *torn (cf. the diminutive tornele), variant of tor.

turn m

  1. tower

Borrowed from German Turm, from Latin turrem, accusative form of turris.

turn n (plural turnuri)

  1. tower
  2. (chess) rook
    Synonym: tură
Chess pieces in Romanian · piese de șah (layout · text)
♚ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟
rege regină, damă tură, turn nebun cal pion