Etimology
From Middle English turnen, from Old English turnian, tyrnan (“to turn, rotate, revolve”) 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.
verb
turn (third-person singular simple present turns, present participle turning, simple past and past participle turned or (obsolete) turnt)
To make a non-linear physical movement.
(intransitive) To change condition or attitude.
(obsolete, reflexive) To change one's course of action; to take a new approach.
(transitive, usually with over) To complete.
(transitive) To make (money); turn a profit.
(transitive, soccer) Of a player, to go past an opposition player with the ball in one's control.
To undergo the process of turning on a lathe.
(obstetrics) To bring down the feet of a child in the womb, in order to facilitate delivery.
(printing, dated) To invert a type of the same thickness, as a temporary substitute for any sort which is exhausted.
(archaic) To translate.
(transitive, roleplaying games) To magically or divinely repel undead.
Examples
the Earth turns; turn on the spot
"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. […]."
Turn the knob clockwise.
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.
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.
She turned right at the corner.
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.
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.
She turned the table legs with care and precision.
[…] the Poets pen turnes them to ſhapes, […]
[…] he was perfectly well turned for the occupations of trade and commerce.The spelling has been modernized.
The spelling has been modernized.
His limbs how turn’d! how broad his ſhoulders ſpread!
turn the bed covers; turn the pages
turn to page twenty; turn through the book
I fell off my bike and turned my ankle severely.
Synonyms: become, get
The leaves turn brown in autumn. When I asked him for the money, he turned nasty.
Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, / Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman ſcorn'd.
The former-slaves-turned-abolitionists Quobna Ottobah Cugoano and Olaudah Equiano were the chief organizers of the Sons of Africa.
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.
The hillside behind our house isn't generally much to look at, but once all the trees turn it's gorgeous.
Midas made everything turn to gold. He turned into a monster every full moon.
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.
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.
This milk has turned; it smells awful.
to turn cider or wine
How long ago was he turned?
His companions had turned him on purpose. Annie, bless her heart, was immune.
Bruce Banner turns when he is angry: he becomes the Hulk, an incredibly powerful green monster.
Charlie turns six on September 29.
The decision turns on a single fact.
[…] Conditions of Peace certainly do turn upon Events of War.
The prisoners turned on the warden.
‘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.’
Ile looke no more, / Leaſt my braine turne, […]
The sight turned my stomach.
And they made a calfe in thoſe dayes / and offered ſacrifice vnto the ymage / and reioyſed in the workes of theyr awne hondes. / Then God turned hym ſilfe / and gave them vp / […]
Turne from thy fierce wrath, […]
The Mind receiving the Ideas, mentioned in the foregoing Chapter, from without, when it turns its view inward upon its ſelf, […]
Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to "Chat of the Social World," gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl's intelligence.
They say they can turn the parts in two days.
We turned a pretty penny with that little scheme.
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.
Ivory turns well.
to turn the Iliad
who turns a Persian tale for half a crown
Related words
synonyms
(move around an axis through itself): rotate, spin, twirl
(change the direction or orientation of): rotate
(change one's direction of travel): steer, swerve, tack
(nautical)
(position (something) by folding it back on itself):
(become): become, get, go
(rebel): rebel, revolt
(shape on a lathe): lathe
(go bad): go bad, go off, sour, spoil
(complete): complete
Etimology
Partly from Anglo-Norman *torn, from Latin turnus, from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos), and partly an action noun from the verb turn.
noun
turn (plural turns)
A change of direction or orientation.
A movement of an object about its own axis in one direction that continues until the object returns to its initial orientation.
A walk to and fro.
A chance to use (something) shared in sequence with others.
A spell of work, especially the time allotted to a person in a rota or schedule.
One's chance to make a move in a game having two or more players.
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.
The time required to complete a project.
A fit or a period of giddiness.
A change in temperament or circumstance.
(cricket) A sideways movement of the ball when it bounces (caused by rotation in flight).
(poker) The fourth communal card in Texas hold 'em.
(poker, obsolete) The flop (the first three community cards) in Texas hold 'em.
A deed done to another; an act of kindness or malice.
A single loop of a coil.
(rope) A pass behind or through an object.
Character; personality; nature.
(soccer) An instance of going past an opposition player with the ball in one's control.
(circus, theater, especially physical comedy) A short skit, act, or routine.
(printing, dated) A type turned upside down to serve for another character that is not available.
(UK, finance, historical) The profit made by a stockjobber, being the difference between the buying and selling prices.
Examples
Give the handle a turn, then pull it.
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.
Let's take a turn in the garden.
Synonym: promenade
They took turns playing with the new toy.
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.
I cooked tonight, so it's your turn to do the dishes.
They quote a three-day turn on parts like those.
Synonym: turnaround
I've had a funny turn.
I'm sure I never shall forget the turn young Simmons gave me when he came in with that paper as he'd been and copied out of a winder thro' being in a west-end house, […]
'Then you must know as well as the rest of us that there was something queer about that gentleman—something that gave a man a turn—I don't know rightly how to say it, sir, beyond this: that you felt it in your marrow kind of cold and thin.'
She took a turn for the worse.
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 […].
It was fortunate for his comfort, perhaps, that the man who had been chosen to accompany him was of a talkative turn, for the prisoners insisted upon hearing the story of the explosion a dozen times over, and Rufus Dawes himself had been roused to give the name of the vessel with his own lips.
Between the pieces were individual turns, comic songs and dances.
There are usually at least two jobbers who specialise in the leading stocks, and this acts to keep the jobber's turn to a reasonable amount […]
Related words
synonyms
(change of direction or orientation):
(movement about an axis returning to the original orientation): 360° turn, complete rotation, complete turn, full rotation, full turn
(single loop of a coil): loop
(chance to use (something) shared in sequence with others): go
(one's chance to make a move in a game): go, move
(figure in music):
(time required to complete a project):
(fit or period of giddiness): dizziness, dizzy spell, giddiness
(change in temperament or circumstance): change, swing
(sideways movement of a cricket ball):
related terms
return
turnabout
turncoat
turning
turnout
turnover
turnpike
turnstile
turntable