retourner
French, verb/ʁə.tuʁ.ne/
retourner is spelled R-E-T-O-U-R-N-E-R (9 letters) and appears 41 times per million words in written French, the 2,034th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Retourner is a French verb meaning “to turn over; to turn upside-down” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Aller de nouveau en un lieu”.
What does retourner mean in English?
verb
- 1
to turn over; to turn upside-down
J'ai retourné le livre pour en voir le prix.
- 2
to turn over; to flip
Veuillez retourner le steak pendant la cuisson.
- 3
turn over (earth, soil); to toss (salad)
Retournez la salade avant de la servir.
- 4
to return; to send back (an object)
Il faut que vous retourniez le document.
- 5
to return; to go back (to/from a place)
Quand y êtes-vous retourné(e)(s) ?
- 6
to return; to revert [with à] (to a state etc.)
Après quelques jours, il est retourné à son état normal.
- 7
to turn over; to overturn; to capsize
Le bateau s'est retourné.
- 8
to turn round (turn one's head)
Elle s'est retournée en entendant son nom.
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Aller de nouveau en un lieu. 2. Revenir au lieu d’où l’on est venu. 3. Recommencer à faire les mêmes choses, les mêmes actions. 4. Faire retour.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of retourner
- avoir infinitive multiword-construction
- être + past participle infinitive multiword-construction
- retournant gerund participle present
- ayant gerund multiword-construction participle
- étant + past participle gerund multiword-construction participle
- retourné participle past
- retourne first-person indicative present
- retournes indicative present second-person
- retournons first-person indicative plural
- retournez indicative plural present
- retournent indicative plural present
- retournais first-person imperfect indicative
- retournait imperfect indicative singular
- retournions first-person imperfect indicative
- retourniez imperfect indicative plural
- retournaient imperfect indicative plural
- retournai first-person historic indicative
- retournas historic indicative past
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce retourner?
- /ʁə.tuʁ.ne/
- \ʁə.tuʁ.ne\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to retourner
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is retourner in French?
retourner appears 41 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).