turn

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A change in the direction you are moving or facing.

   They took a turn to the right at the crossroads.

2. 2
   noun

   The time when it is your chance to do something in an agreed order.

   It is my turn to roll the dice.

3. 3
   noun

   An unexpected change in the way events develop.

   The events suddenly took an awkward turn.

4. 4
   noun

   A helpful or harmful act done for someone.

   You did me a good turn by lending me your car.

5. 5
   verb

   to move around a centre or change the direction something faces

   Turn the handle clockwise to open the door.

Multiword verbs with turn

• turn around Phrasal verb A1

  to change position so that one faces the opposite direction

• turn off Phrasal verb A1

  to stop a machine or electrical device from working

• turn over Phrasal verb A1

  to move something so that its other side faces up or outward

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Turn entered Old English from Latin tornare, “to turn,” derived from Greek tornos, “lathe.” The medieval sense “an opportunity or obligation to act,” as in “your turn,” later produced the early 18th-century sense of a short performance or song.

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *terh₁-der. Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos)bor. Latin tornus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti 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”), bot…

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External links

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