turn
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turn¹
- /tɜːn/ UK
- /tɔːn/ Northumbria
- /tɜɹn/ US
Sounds like tern, tarn · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)n
Where it comes from
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *terh₁-
Proto-Indo-European *-nos
Proto-Indo-European *tórh₁nos
Proto-Hellenic *tórnos
Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos)bor.
Latin tornus
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu.
Proto-Italic *-ājō
Proto-Italic *-āō
Latin -ō
Latin tornōbor.
Proto-West Germanic *turnēn
Old English turnian
▲
Latin tornō
Old French tornerbor.
Middle English turnen
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.
verb turns · turning · turned · turnt
- To move about an axis through itself. the Earth turns
- To change the direction or orientation of, especially by rotation. Turn the knob clockwise.
- To change one's direction of travel. She turned right at the corner.
- 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.
- To give form to; to shape or mould; to adapt. […]the Poets pen turnes them to ſhapes,[…]
- To direct or impel (something) into or out of a place. Add sugar and butter, then turn the mixture into a dish.
- To position (something) by folding it, or using its folds. turn the bed covers; turn the pages
- To navigate through a book or other printed material. turn to page twenty; turn through the book
- To twist or sprain. I fell off my bike and turned my ankle severely.
- Of a bowler, to make (the ball) move sideways off the pitch when it bounces.
- Of a ball, to move sideways off the pitch when it bounces.
- To become (often used with colors, clear sudden changes, weather and ages). Near-synonyms: become, get, go, come, fall, grow, wax
- 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.
- To change fundamentally; to metamorphose. Midas made everything turn to gold. He turned into a monster every full moon.
- To sour or spoil; to go bad. This milk has turned; it smells awful.
- To make acid or sour; to ferment; to curdle. to turn cider or wine
- To change (a person) into a vampire, werewolf, zombie, etc. How long ago was he turned?
- To transform into a vampire, werewolf, zombie, etc. Bruce Banner turns when he is angry: he becomes the Hulk, an incredibly powerful green monster.
- To change the sexual orientation or gender of another person, or otherwise awaken a sexual preference. 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.
- To hinge; to depend. The decision turns on a single fact.
- To rebel; to go against something formerly tolerated. The prisoners turned on the warden.
- To change personalities, such as from being a face (good guy) to heel (bad guy) or vice versa.
- To make or become giddy; said of the head or brain. Ile looke no more, / Leaſt my braine turne,[…]
- To sicken; to nauseate. The sight turned my stomach.
- To be nauseated; said of the stomach.
- To change one's course of action; to take a new approach. 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 /[…]
- To complete. They say they can turn the parts in two days.
- To make (money); turn a profit. We turned a pretty penny with that little scheme.
- Of a player, to go past an opposition player with the ball in one's control. 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.
- To undergo the process of turning on a lathe. Ivory turns well.
- To bring down the feet of a child in the womb, in order to facilitate delivery.
- To invert a type of the same thickness, as a temporary substitute for any sort which is exhausted.
- To translate. to turn the Iliad
- To magically or divinely repel undead.
- To carve vegetables into uniform barrel-like or American football-like shapes. The hardest part of culinary school was learning to turn vegetables perfectly.
turn²
- /tɜːn/ UK
- /tɔːn/ Northumbria
- /tɜɹn/ US
Sounds like tern, tarn · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)n
Where it comes from
Partly from Anglo-Norman *torn, from Latin tornus, from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos), and partly an action noun from the verb turn.
noun turns
- A change of direction or orientation. Give the handle a turn, then pull it.
- A movement of an object about its own axis in one direction that continues until the object returns to its initial orientation.
- A unit of plane angle measurement based on this movement.
- A walk to and fro. Let's take a turn in the garden.
- A chance to use something shared in sequence with others. They took turns playing with the new toy.
- 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.
- 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. They quote a three-day turn on parts like those.
- The transition from one period or era, or hour on the clock, to another. turn of the century
- A fit or a period of giddiness. I've had a funny turn.
- A change in temperament or circumstance. She took a turn for the worse.
- A sideways movement of the ball when it bounces (caused by rotation in flight).
- The fourth communal card in Texas hold 'em.
- The flop (the first three community cards) in Texas hold 'em.
- A deed done to another; an act of kindness or malice. One good turn deserves another.
- A single loop of a coil.
- A pass behind or through an object.
- Character; personality; nature. 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.
- An instance of going past an opposition player with the ball in one's control.
- A short skit, act, or routine. Between the pieces were individual turns, comic songs and dances.
- A type turned upside down to serve for another character that is not available.
- The profit made by a stockjobber, being the difference between the buying and selling prices. 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 […]
Similar: 360° turn, complete rotation, complete turn, full rotation, full turn
