tour

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /tʊə/, /tɔː/, US /tʊr/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English tour (“a turn”),^[2][3] borrowed from Old French tour, earlier tor, torn “a turn, trick, round, circuit”,^[4][5][6] from torner (“to turn”),^[4][5] from Latin tornāre (“to turn on a lathe”),^[5] from tornus (“lathe”),^[2][6] from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos, “lathe”).^[7][8] It is related to turn and tournament.^[5][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

“A turn, one's shift on duty”: about 1300^[4][5] or 1292.^[9]

Semantic evolution

A turning round, circular movement, from 1477, is rare and obsolete.^[9][4] The sense “a journey around a place or from place to place” is from 1643,^[5][9][4] and a short outing for exercise or recreation from 1656.^[9] The verb meant “to take a turn about a place” from 1746, and “to make a long journey visiting many places” by 1789;^[4][9] of plays and performers on tour it is by 1897.^[4] Tourist is from 1780, and tourism from 1811.^[5] Tour of duty preserves the old sense “turn, spell of work”.^[8] The Tour de France cycle race is attested in English by 1916.^[4]

Timeline

• 1292 – one's turn.^[9]
• 1643 – a journey round many places.^[5][9]
• 1746 – verb, to travel about.^[4]
• 1780 – tourist.^[5]
• 1811 – tourism.^[5]
• 1897 – of a theatrical tour.^[4]
• 1916 – the Tour de France.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A journey for pleasure in which several places are visited.
2. A short visit to see a building or place: a tour of the castle.
3. A series of performances or matches in different places.
4. A period of duty, especially abroad: a tour of duty.

Verb

1. To travel round a place, especially for pleasure.
2. To travel from place to place giving performances.

Word family

• tourer
• contour
• ecotour
• minitour
• tourism
• tourist
• untoured

Related words

• turn
• tournament
• tourney
• detour
• attorney

Usage notes

In Scots by tour meant “by turns, alternately”.^[10]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ 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)