English Word Reference Free

turn

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

4 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

open dictionary

Access

Free

no sign-up needed

Detailed reference entry for the English word "turn", 4-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "turn" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "turn" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

turn is aEnglishverb. It means: To make a non-linear physical movement. Pronounced /tɜːn/. It ranks #484 in English word frequency. Often confused with tut and tux.

Key facts for turn
PropertyValue
Headwordturn
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/tɜːn/
Letters4
Frequency rank#484
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of turn in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for turn is 4 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /tɜːn/. Corpus data places it at rank #484 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 34 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 6 documented wrong-spelling variants for turn, with forms such as "trun", "tturn", and "tunr". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "tut", "tux", "Tyr", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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 G… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is turn, spelled T-U-R-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To make a non-linear physical movement.
  2. 2
    To make a non-linear physical movement.
  3. 3
    To make a non-linear physical movement.
  4. 4
    To make a non-linear physical movement.
  5. 5
    To make a non-linear physical movement.
  6. 6
    To make a non-linear physical movement.
  7. 7
    To make a non-linear physical movement.
  8. 8
    To make a non-linear physical movement.
  9. 9
    To make a non-linear physical movement.
  10. 10
    To make a non-linear physical movement.
  11. 11
    To make a non-linear physical movement.
  12. 12
    To change condition or attitude.
  13. 13
    To change condition or attitude.
  14. 14
    To change condition or attitude.
  15. 15
    To change condition or attitude.
  16. 16
    To change condition or attitude.
  17. 17
    To change condition or attitude.
  18. 18
    To change condition or attitude.
  19. 19
    To change condition or attitude.
  20. 20
    To change condition or attitude.
  21. 21
    To change condition or attitude.
  22. 22
    To change condition or attitude.
  23. 23
    To change condition or attitude.
  24. 24
    To change condition or attitude.
  25. 25
    To change condition or attitude.
  26. 26
    To change one's course of action; to take a new approach.
  27. 27
    To complete.
  28. 28
    To make (money); turn a profit.
  29. 29
    Of a player, to go past an opposition player with the ball in one's control.
  30. 30
    To undergo the process of turning on a lathe.
  31. 31
    To bring down the feet of a child in the womb, in order to facilitate delivery.
  32. 32
    To invert a type of the same thickness, as a temporary substitute for any sort which is exhausted.
  33. 33
    To translate.
  34. 34
    To magically or divinely repel undead.

Etymology

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”), 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.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: trun,tturn,tunr,turnn,turrn,utrn

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for turn

Misspelling Variants of "turn"

trun4tturn5tunr4turnn5turrn5utrn4
Misspelling Variants of "turn"

Frequency rank: #484 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "turn"?
"turn" is spelled T-U-R-N. The IPA pronunciation is /tɜːn/.
What does "turn" mean?
As a verb, "turn" means: To make a non-linear physical movement.
What words are commonly confused with "turn"?
"turn" is commonly confused with "tut", "tux", "Tyr". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "turn"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "turn" is /tɜːn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "turn"?
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. Pr... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter T in our English index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.