overturn

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English overturnen,^[2][3] formed from Middle English over + turnen (“to turn”),^[3][4][5][6] the counterpart of the phrasal verb turn over.^[4] The noun, recorded from about 1592, is formed from English over- + turn, in its first sense after the verb.^[4][6] Old English had oferweorpan (“to overturn, overthrow”) for this meaning, and Wycliffe used underturn, translating Latin subvertō.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a wheel, to turn round or revolve, and figuratively of time, to pass: about 1225, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[4][5] This intransitive sense was obsolete by about 1500 in the OED,^[4] the mid-17th century in the Shorter Oxford.^[6] Merriam-Webster dates the verb to the 13th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From about 1300 the verb meant to throw something over on its side, to upset or capsize it,^[4][5] and before 1393, in Gower, to topple or capsize oneself.^[4] The figurative sense, to overthrow or destroy a person, institution or principle, appears in the Wycliffite Bible before 1382,^[4][5][2] which also used it for upsetting the brain or stomach and for perverting something from good, senses now obsolete.^[4] Chaucer used the verb once and Gower eight times, for "overturn, destroy".^[7] Johnson (1755) defined it as to throw down, topple, subvert or ruin.^[8] The legal sense, to reverse a court's decision, is recorded from 1826 in Etymonline,^[5] 1842 in the OED.^[4] The noun, the act of overturning, an overthrow or upset, is first found in Francis Bacon about 1592;^[4][3] since 1911 it has also been the seasonal mixing of the water of a lake.^[4] In Scots the noun also meant the burden or chorus of a song.^[9][4]

Timeline

• c. 1225 – of a wheel, to revolve (obsolete).^[4]
• c. 1300 – to tip or throw over, to upset or capsize.^[4][5]
• before 1382 – to overthrow or destroy; to upset the brain or stomach.^[4]
• before 1393 – intransitive, to topple over, capsize.^[4]
• c. 1592 – noun, the act of overturning; an overthrow.^[4][3]
• 1825 – noun, in Scots, the burden of a song (obsolete).^[4]
• 1842 – to reverse a legal decision.^[4] Etymonline dates this sense to 1826.^[5]
• 1911 – noun, the seasonal mixing of the water of a lake.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To turn or cause to turn over from an upright or normal position; to upset or capsize: A gust of wind overturned the canoe.^[10][3][4]
2. To overthrow or destroy a person, government, principle and the like.^[10][3][4]
3. To reverse or invalidate a decision, especially a legal ruling: The appeal court overturned the verdict.^[10][4][6]
4. (obsolete, c. 1225–1500) Of a wheel, to revolve.^[4][6]

Noun

1. The act of overturning, or the state of being overturned; an overthrow or upset.^[10][3][4]
2. (limnology) The mixing of the water of a thermally layered lake, usually once or twice a year.^[3][4]

Word family

• overturnable

Related words

• turn
• turnover
• upturn

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
10. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins