turn

Etymology 1

From Middle English turnen, from Old English turnian, tyrnan (“to turn, rotate, revolve”) 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”). Displaced native Old English wendan.

verb

1. To make a non-linear physical movement.
   1. (intransitive) Of a body, person, etc, to move around an axis through itself.
      the Earth turns;  turn on the spot
   2. (transitive) To change the direction or orientation of, especially by rotation.
      Turn the knob clockwise.
      Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work. 2013 July-August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in American Scientist
   3. (intransitive) To change one's direction of travel.
      She turned right at the corner.
      I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn. 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
   4. (transitive) 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. (by extension) To give form to; to shape or mould; to adapt.
   6. (transitive) To position (something) by folding it, or using its folds.
      turn the bed covers;  turn the pages
   7. (transitive, figurative) To navigate through a book or other printed material.
      turn to page twenty;  turn through the book
   8. (transitive) To twist or sprain.
      I fell off my bike and turned my ankle severely.
   9. (transitive, cricket) Of a bowler, to make (the ball) move sideways off the pitch when it bounces.
   10. (intransitive, cricket) Of a ball, to move sideways off the pitch when it bounces.
2. (intransitive) To change condition or attitude.
   1. (copulative) To become (begin to be).
      The leaves turn brown in autumn. When I asked him for the money, he turned nasty.
      The former-slaves-turned-abolitionists Quobna Ottobah Cugoano and Olaudah Equiano were the chief organizers of the Sons of Africa. 2007, Junius P. Rodriguez, Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World
      The midfielder turned provider moments later, his exquisite reverse pass perfectly weighted for Cisse to race on to and slide past Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic. April 21, 2012, Jonathan Jurejko, “Newcastle 3-0 Stoke”, in BBC Sport
   2. (intransitive) To change the color of the leaves in the autumn.
      The hillside behind our house isn't generally much to look at, but once all the trees turn it's gorgeous.
   3. To change fundamentally; to metamorphose.
      1. (intransitive) To sour or spoil; to go bad.
         This milk has turned; it smells awful.
      2. (transitive) To make acid or sour; to ferment; to curdle.
         to turn cider or wine
      3. (transitive, fantasy) To change (a person) into a vampire, werewolf, zombie, etc.
         How long ago was he turned?
         His companions had turned him on purpose. Annie, bless her heart, was immune. 2017, Michael J. Totten, Into the Wasteland: A Zombie Novel
      4. (intransitive, fantasy) To transform into a vampire, werewolf, zombie, etc.
         Bruce Banner turns when he is angry; he becomes the Hulk, an incredibly powerful green monster.
   4. To reach a certain age.
      Charlie turns six on September 29.
   5. To hinge; to depend.
      The decision turns on a single fact.
   6. To rebel; to go against something formerly tolerated.
      The prisoners turned on the warden.
   7. To change personal condition.
      1. (professional wrestling) To change personalities, such as from being a face (good guy) to heel (bad guy) or vice versa.
      2. To become giddy; said of the head or brain.
      3. To sicken; to nauseate.
         The sight turned my stomach.
      4. To be nauseated; said of the stomach.
3. (obsolete, reflexive) To change one's course of action; to take a new approach.
4. (transitive, usually with over) To complete.
   They say they can turn the parts in two days.
5. (transitive) To make (money); turn a profit.
   We turned a pretty penny with that little scheme.
6. (transitive, soccer) Of a player, to go past an opposition player with the ball in one's control.
   Liverpool introduced Carroll for Spearing and were rewarded after 64 minutes when he put them back in contention. Stewart Downing blocked Jose Bosingwa's attempted clearance, which fell into the path of Carroll. He turned John Terry superbly before firing high past Cech. May 5, 2012, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport
7. To undergo the process of turning on a lathe.
   Ivory turns well.
8. (obstetrics) To bring down the feet of a child in the womb, in order to facilitate delivery.
9. (printing, dated) To invert a type of the same thickness, as a temporary substitute for any sort which is exhausted.
10. (archaic) To translate.
    to turn the Iliad
    who turns a Persian tale for half a crown 1735, Alexander Pope, The Prologue to the Satires
11. (transitive, role-playing games) To magically or divinely attack undead.

Etymology 2

Partly from Anglo-Norman *torn, from Latin turnus, from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos), and partly an action noun from the verb turn.

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.
   1. (geometry) A unit of plane angle measurement based on this movement.
3. A walk to and fro.
   Let's take a turn in the garden.
4. A chance to use (something) shared in sequence with others.
   They took turns playing with the new toy.
5. 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.
6. One's chance to make a move in a game having two or more players.
7. 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.
8. The time required to complete a project.
   They quote a three-day turn on parts like those.
9. A fit or a period of giddiness.
   I've had a funny turn.
   I'm sure I never shall forget the turn young Simmons gave me when he came in with that paper as he'd been and copied out of a winder thro' being in a west-end house, […] 23 September 1865, “Mrs. Brown and the Emperor of the French”, in Fun, London: Published (for the proprietors) by Thomas Baker, →OCLC, page 17
10. A change in temperament or circumstance.
    She took a turn for the worse.
11. (cricket) A sideways movement of the ball when it bounces (caused by rotation in flight).
12. (poker) The fourth communal card in Texas hold 'em.
13. (poker, obsolete) The flop (the first three community cards) in Texas hold 'em.
14. A deed done to another; an act of kindness or malice.
    One good turn deserves another.
    I felt that the man was of a vindictive nature, and would do me an evil turn if he found the opportunity[…].
15. A single loop of a coil.
16. (rope) A pass behind or through an object.
17. Character; personality; nature.
18. (soccer) An instance of going past an opposition player with the ball in one's control.
19. (circus, theater, especially physical comedy) A short skit, act, or routine.
    Between the pieces were individual turns, comic songs and dances. 1960, Theatre Notebook, volumes 14-16, page 122
20. (printing, dated) A type turned upside down to serve for another character that is not available.
21. (UK, finance, historical) The profit made by a stockjobber, being the difference between the buying and selling prices.
    There are usually at least two jobbers who specialise in the leading stocks, and this acts to keep the jobber's turn to a reasonable amount […] 1977, Michael Arthur Firth, Valuation of Shares and the Efficient-markets Theory, page 11