Etymologically
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tour

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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

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)