turn
n. countablen. Your time to do something, especially when people are doing things one after another in a game or activity.
n. A point in a sequence at which a particular person has the right or duty to act. It can also refer to a change in direction or a single rotation.
It is my turn to play the game.
The children learned to take turns on the swing at the playground.
The plot took an unexpected turn when the hero was revealed to be the villain's long-lost brother.
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.
Partly from Anglo-Norman *torn, from Latin tornus, from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos), and partly an action noun from the verb turn.
Commonly used in the idiomatic phrase 'take turns (to do something)' to describe a sequential, cooperative action.
We take turn to clean.We take turns to clean.The idiomatic phrase is 'take turns' (plural), not 'take turn'.
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Buggins's turn
A humorous, disparaging term for the appointment of a person by rotation or promotion, on the basis of length of service (it being that person's "turn") rather than merit or level of qualification.
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good turn
A good deed; a thoughtful or selfless act.
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left turn
An unexpected change from the way things seemed to be going.