turn

/tɜɹn/verb, noun

turn is spelled T-U-R-N: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 209 times per million words in written English, the 483rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, turn means “To move about an axis through itself” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in turn?

Letters	4: T-U-R-N
Syllables	1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing	209 times per million words; the 483rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched	none measured in search
Pairs people search	tern vs turn
Sounds like	tern
Rhymes with	return learn concern burn more
Same letters	runt

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is turn?

Turn appears 209 times per million words in written English, the 483rd most frequent word form in the list.

turn0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce turn?

UK /tɜːn/
/tɔːn/
US /tɜɹn/

Turn has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-turn.wav, En-us-turn.ogg, En-au-turn.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with turn

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

tern vs turn0 B

Sounds like: tern (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with turn?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as turn from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹn/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: runt.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of turn

turns present, singular, he/she/it, plural
turning participle, present
turned participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does turn mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

1
To move about an axis through itself.
the Earth turns
2
To change the direction or orientation of, especially by rotation.
Turn the knob clockwise.
3
To change one's direction of travel.
She turned right at the corner.
4
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.
5
To give form to; to shape or mould; to adapt.
6
To direct or impel (something) into or out of a place.
Add sugar and butter, then turn the mixture into a dish.
7
To position (something) by folding it, or using its folds.
turn the bed covers; turn the pages
8
To navigate through a book or other printed material.
turn to page twenty; turn through the book

noun

1
A change of direction or orientation.
Give the handle a turn, then pull it.
2
A movement of an object about its own axis in one direction that continues until the object returns to its initial orientation.
3
A unit of plane angle measurement based on this movement.
4
A walk to and fro.
Let's take a turn in the garden.
5
A chance to use something shared in sequence with others.
They took turns playing with the new toy.
6
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.
7
One's chance to make a move in a game having two or more players.
8
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.