Turn in Different Languages
Discover 'Turn' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'turn' holds a significant place in our vocabulary, denoting a variety of actions and concepts, such as rotation, change in direction, or a single play in games like chess. Its cultural importance is evident in idioms and expressions, like 'turn over a new leaf' or 'turn the other cheek,' which have shaped our communication and understanding of the world.
Moreover, the word 'turn' has been translated into different languages, reflecting the richness and diversity of global cultures. For instance, in Spanish, 'turn' is 'vuelta;' in French, 'tour;' in German, 'Wendung;' and in Japanese, 'まわり' (mawari).
Understanding the translation of 'turn' in various languages can enhance your cross-cultural communication and broaden your perspective on the world. Not only will it help you appreciate the nuances of different languages, but it will also enable you to connect with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
Turn
Turn in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | draai | ||
| In Afrikaans, "draai" can also refer to a farm path or a detour. | |||
| Amharic | መታጠፍ | ||
| The word መታጠፍ can also mean to change one's mind or to repent. | |||
| Hausa | juya | ||
| Hausa "juya" derives from Proto-West-Chadic "*juy" via lenition of the final consonant, while in some contexts it has also come to mean "change" or "reverse something". | |||
| Igbo | ntụgharị | ||
| The word "ntụgharị" can also mean "translation" or "conversion". | |||
| Malagasy | miala | ||
| The root -mila, from which this verb derives, is also related to the words ‘fimalofana’ (turn), ‘mimilamina’ (turn around), ‘mimilika’ (twist), ‘mivilivilanaka’ (roll, wallow), ‘milihitsy’ (be round) and ‘milimovitra’ (bend over). | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | tembenuka | ||
| The Nyanja word "tembenuka" can also refer to "returning an item". | |||
| Shona | tendeuka | ||
| The word "tendeuka" in Shona can also mean "to change direction" or "to alter course." | |||
| Somali | leexo | ||
| The word "leexo" can also mean "bend," "deviate," or "change direction" in Somali. | |||
| Sesotho | reteleha | ||
| Reteleha also means "to reverse" or "to invert" in Sesotho. | |||
| Swahili | kugeuka | ||
| In Swahili, 'kugeuka' can also mean 'to change' or 'to transform'. | |||
| Xhosa | jika | ||
| "Jika" also means "to happen" and is derived from the Proto-Bantu term "*jika" meaning "to turn, to change." | |||
| Yoruba | yipada | ||
| The Yoruba word "yipada" also means "to change one's mind" or "to repent". | |||
| Zulu | phenduka | ||
| This word derives from the stem -pend- to twist and -uk- to cause or make. | |||
| Bambara | ka yɛlɛma | ||
| Ewe | trᴐ | ||
| Kinyarwanda | hindukira | ||
| Lingala | kobaluka | ||
| Luganda | okukyuuka | ||
| Sepedi | fetoga | ||
| Twi (Akan) | mane | ||
Turn in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | منعطف أو دور | ||
| The English word "turn" is derived from the Old English word "tyrnan," meaning "to turn" or "to revolve." | |||
| Hebrew | תור | ||
| The word "תור" also means "dove" in Hebrew, as in the story of Noah's Ark. | |||
| Pashto | بره | ||
| In Pashto, the word بره "bara" can also mean "side" or "direction". | |||
| Arabic | منعطف أو دور | ||
| The English word "turn" is derived from the Old English word "tyrnan," meaning "to turn" or "to revolve." | |||
Turn in Western European Languages
| Albanian | kthehet | ||
| The Albanian word "kthehet" has various meanings, including "turn, return, change, transform, rotate, and translate." | |||
| Basque | txanda | ||
| Basque "txanda" meaning "turn" derives from the Basque word "txanpa", "plate" or "flat surface", suggesting a circular or alternating motion. | |||
| Catalan | girar | ||
| The word "girar" also has other meanings, such as "to issue" or "to rotate"} | |||
| Croatian | skretanje | ||
| Skretanje derives from Proto-Slavic *skrętiti, from the same root as *krukъ and *kъrtъ, both meaning 'circle'. | |||
| Danish | tur | ||
| The Danish word "tur" can also mean "tour" or "trip." | |||
| Dutch | beurt | ||
| The word "beurt" in Dutch can also refer to a "serving" or a "portion" of food. | |||
| English | turn | ||
| The word 'turn' is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root '*tere-' meaning 'to turn, twist, bore' and is related to the words 'tornado' and 'torsion'. | |||
| French | tour | ||
| The French word "tour" stems from the Latin "tornus" meaning "lathe". It evolved to mean "turn" and was later adopted by English. | |||
| Frisian | draaie | ||
| The Frisian word draaie, meaning "turn", can refer to both physical rotations and changes in direction or perspective. | |||
| Galician | quenda | ||
| The word "quenda" in Galician also means "shift" or "turn" in a job or other context. | |||
| German | wende | ||
| The word "Wende" can also refer to the historical region in eastern Germany inhabited by the Slavic Wends. | |||
| Icelandic | snúa | ||
| The word "snúa" can also mean "to change one's mind" or "to repent". | |||
| Irish | cas | ||
| The word cas can also mean "twist" or "bend" in Irish. | |||
| Italian | girare | ||
| The verb "girare" in Italian, derived from the Latin "gyrare," also means "to roam, walk, wander," and "to rotate, spin." | |||
| Luxembourgish | dréien | ||
| Dréien is also the word for "three" in Luxembourgish, which comes from the Germanic word for "three". | |||
| Maltese | dawwar | ||
| The etymology of "dawwar" is unclear, but it could be a borrowing from Arabic meaning "to roll" or "to wander". | |||
| Norwegian | sving | ||
| The Norwegian word "sving" can also mean "swing" (as in a playground swing) or "corner". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | virar | ||
| The verb "virar" can also mean "to become", "to change", or "to go rancid". | |||
| Scots Gaelic | tionndadh | ||
| The word "tionndadh" can also mean "a change of direction or opinion" or "a revolution". | |||
| Spanish | giro | ||
| Giro in Spanish also refers to a payment order to a bank or an account transfer | |||
| Swedish | sväng | ||
| "Sväng" also means groove or swing, but in English, those are nouns. | |||
| Welsh | troi | ||
| The Welsh word troi also means "a while", | |||
Turn in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | паварот | ||
| Additionally, the word "паварот" can refer to a "sharp bend" in a river or road. | |||
| Bosnian | okrenuti | ||
| In Bosnian, the word "okrenuti" can also mean to change one's mind or to convert to a different religion. | |||
| Bulgarian | завой | ||
| The word 'завой' also means 'meander' and is derived from the Proto-Slavic word 'zъvojь', meaning 'bend'. | |||
| Czech | otáčet se | ||
| The word "otáčet se" comes from the Proto-Slavic "*ob-ort-iti", meaning "to revolve". | |||
| Estonian | pööre | ||
| The word "pööre" can also refer to a revolution, transformation, or a turning point in history. | |||
| Finnish | vuoro | ||
| The word "vuoro" can also refer to a shift, order, or sequence. | |||
| Hungarian | fordulat | ||
| The verb "fordul" originally meant "to go round" and is the source of the noun "forduló" meaning "round". Also from this root come the names "fordult" and "Fordul" which were originally nicknames for people who live at junctions where the road turns. | |||
| Latvian | pagriezties | ||
| "Pagriezties" can also mean "to become" or "to change into" in the sense of changing a physical state. | |||
| Lithuanian | posūkis | ||
| The word "posūkis" also means "change" or "transformation" in Lithuanian. | |||
| Macedonian | сврти | ||
| The word "сврти" in Macedonian can also mean "to bend", "to twist", or "to fold". | |||
| Polish | skręcać | ||
| The Polish word "skręcać" primarily means "to turn," but also has alternative meanings, such as "to twist" or "to roll up." | |||
| Romanian | întoarce | ||
| The word 'întoarce' in Romanian derives from the Latin 'tornare' (to turn), and also means 'return' or 'come back' in certain contexts. | |||
| Russian | перемена | ||
| The word “перемена” in Russian can also mean “change” or “break” in English. | |||
| Serbian | ред | ||
| The Slavic word "ред" (turn) is cognate with the Latin word "ordo" (order, row), and it also has the alternate meaning of "line, row" in Serbian. | |||
| Slovak | otočiť sa | ||
| The word "otočiť sa" in Slovak can also mean to change direction or to turn one's back on someone. | |||
| Slovenian | obrat | ||
| The word 'obrat' has the alternate meaning 'factory' or 'plant', which is a more common usage in certain Slavic languages like Russian, Ukrainian, and Polish. | |||
| Ukrainian | повернути | ||
| In Ukrainian, the verb повернути can mean not only “to turn” but also “to return, to restore, or to bring back”. | |||
Turn in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | মোড় | ||
| The word "মোড়" also means a turn in a road or river, or a change in direction or course. | |||
| Gujarati | વળો | ||
| "વળો" also means "fold", "bend", or "turn (of a river or road)" in Gujarati. | |||
| Hindi | मोड़ | ||
| The word 'मोड़' also means 'joint' or 'bend' in Hindi, and is derived from the Sanskrit word 'murda', meaning 'to twist'. | |||
| Kannada | ತಿರುವು | ||
| The Kannada word "ತಿರುವು" (turn) comes from the Sanskrit word "त्रिवर्त" (trivarta), meaning "three times". This is because the Kannada word was originally used to denote a change of direction that occurred three times. | |||
| Malayalam | വളവ് | ||
| Malayalam വളവ് can refer to the bend in a road and a particular dance step in Mohiniyattom | |||
| Marathi | वळण | ||
| The Marathi word "वळण" can also refer to a riverbend or a mountain pass. | |||
| Nepali | पालो | ||
| The Nepali word 'पालो' derives from the Sanskrit word 'पालि' meaning 'protection, care, shelter' and also 'order, succession'. | |||
| Punjabi | ਵਾਰੀ | ||
| The word "ਵਾਰੀ" can also refer to a period of time, such as a season or a year. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | හැරෙන්න | ||
| Originally means “to make an effort” (cf. Hindi ‘karna’ to do) and is used with reference to many different activities (e.g. “කැමරා හැරෙන්න” to take a photograph). | |||
| Tamil | திரும்பவும் | ||
| In Tamil, | |||
| Telugu | మలుపు | ||
| The word "మలుపు" (malupu) also means "a bend" or "a twist" in Telugu. | |||
| Urdu | باری | ||
| The word "باری" can also refer to "time" or "occasion" in Urdu. | |||
Turn in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 转 | ||
| The character "转" can also mean "to change" or "to revolve. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 轉 | ||
| In astronomy, '轉' can also refer to the precession of the Earth's axis over a period of approximately 26,000 years. | |||
| Japanese | 順番 | ||
| 順番 (順番) also means "order" or "sequence". | |||
| Korean | 회전 | ||
| 회전 could also mean "rotation" or "revolution". | |||
| Mongolian | эргэх | ||
| The Mongolian word "эргэх" can also mean "to roll," "to spin," or "to circulate." | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | လှည့် | ||
| The verb "လှည့်" can also refer to the act of changing the direction, moving around, altering, and rotating. | |||
Turn in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | belok | ||
| "Belok" also means "wrong" in Indonesian. | |||
| Javanese | nguripake | ||
| The word "nguripake" can also mean "to take turns" or "to alternate." | |||
| Khmer | វេន | ||
| In Khmer, "វេន" not only means "turn" but also "time" or "occasion." | |||
| Lao | ລ້ຽວ | ||
| The word "ລ້ຽວ" can also mean "to twist" or "to bend". | |||
| Malay | giliran | ||
| The word "giliran" also means "sequence" or "order" in Malay, and is derived from the Proto-Austronesian word *giliR, which means "to roll" or "to turn over". | |||
| Thai | กลับ | ||
| กลับ (klàp) can also mean "to come back" or "to return". | |||
| Vietnamese | xoay | ||
| The word "xoay" in Vietnamese can also mean "to spin" or "to revolve". | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | lumiko | ||
Turn in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | növbə | ||
| The word "növbə" in Azerbaijani originally meant "queue" and came to mean "turn" later on. | |||
| Kazakh | бұрылу | ||
| "Бұрылу" can also refer to "turning away" and "changing one's mind". | |||
| Kyrgyz | бурулуу | ||
| In Kyrgyz, the word "бурулуу" can also refer to a twist, coil or convolution, as in the case of a serpent's coils. | |||
| Tajik | гардиш | ||
| The Tajik word "гардиш" not only refers to the physical act of turning but can also mean "change," "alteration," or even "fate" in a more abstract sense. | |||
| Turkmen | öwrüň | ||
| Uzbek | burilish | ||
| The word "burilish" in Uzbek is derived from the verb "burmoq" (to wind) and can also mean "twist". | |||
| Uyghur | بۇرۇلۇش | ||
Turn in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | huli | ||
| In Hawaiian, "huli" may also refer to the act of grilling or frying, or the name of a traditional Hawaiian dance. | |||
| Maori | huri | ||
| The Maori word "huri" can also mean "to change", "to alter", or "to transform." | |||
| Samoan | liliu | ||
| The Samoan word "liliu" can also mean "roll" or "twist". | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | lumiko | ||
| The word "lumiko" is derived from the Proto-Austronesian word *liko, which also means "to change direction" or "to bend". | |||
Turn in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | q'imt'aña | ||
| Guarani | jere | ||
Turn in International Languages
| Esperanto | turni | ||
| Turni (turn) originally meant 'spinning top' and was later used for 'spinning around' in general. | |||
| Latin | convertat | ||
| The Latin verb "convertat" also means to alter, change, or to translate, and it is the root of the English word "convert". | |||
Turn in Others Languages
| Greek | στροφή | ||
| In Ancient Greek, "στροφή" also meant "the turning of a plough". | |||
| Hmong | tig | ||
| The word "tig" in Hmong also means "to change direction" or "to reverse course". | |||
| Kurdish | zîvir | ||
| The word "zîvir" in Kurdish can also refer to a twist or a bend. | |||
| Turkish | dönüş | ||
| "Dönüş" also means "return" in Turkish. | |||
| Xhosa | jika | ||
| "Jika" also means "to happen" and is derived from the Proto-Bantu term "*jika" meaning "to turn, to change." | |||
| Yiddish | דרייען | ||
| The Yiddish word “דרײען” has a cognate in German and means both “to spin” and “to blackmail”. | |||
| Zulu | phenduka | ||
| This word derives from the stem -pend- to twist and -uk- to cause or make. | |||
| Assamese | কেঁকুৰি | ||
| Aymara | q'imt'aña | ||
| Bhojpuri | पलट | ||
| Dhivehi | އެނބުރުން | ||
| Dogri | बारी | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | lumiko | ||
| Guarani | jere | ||
| Ilocano | ipusipos | ||
| Krio | tɔn | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | سووڕان | ||
| Maithili | घुमनाइ | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯑꯣꯟꯊꯣꯛꯄ | ||
| Mizo | inher | ||
| Oromo | garagalchuu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ଟର୍ନ୍ | ||
| Quechua | muyuy | ||
| Sanskrit | वर्तनम् | ||
| Tatar | борылу | ||
| Tigrinya | ተጠወ | ||
| Tsonga | jika | ||