# turn

> English word · Verb · IPA /tɜːn/ · frequency rank #484

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

## Easily confused with
- **tut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/turn-vs-tut)
- **tux** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/turn-vs-tux)
- **Tyr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/turn-vs-tyr)
- **twin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/turn-vs-twin)
- **tyre** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/turn-vs-tyre)
- **tutu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/turn-vs-tutu)
- **tusk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/turn-vs-tusk)
- **turns** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/turn-vs-turns)
- **turned** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/turn-vs-turned)
- **turner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/turn-vs-turner)
- **turnip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/turn-vs-turnip)
- **Tu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tu-vs-turn)
- **TN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tn-vs-turn)
- **try** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/try-vs-turn)
- **ten** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ten-vs-turn)
- **ton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ton-vs-turn)
- **tin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tin-vs-turn)
- **tan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tan-vs-turn)
- **tub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tub-vs-turn)
- **tri** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tri-vs-turn)

## Common misspellings (6)
`trun`, `tturn`, `tunr`, `turnn`, `turrn`, `utrn`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/turn