Added 5 October 2026
turn
/tɜːn/ verb
In Latin: vertō Wiktionary
verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about turn at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
noun
-
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 unit of plane angle measurement based on this movement.
Origin
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.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)