Etymologically
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turno

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Pronunciation

Forms

turno m (plural turni)[1]

Etymology

It is a borrowing from French, but the sources differ on which French word.[2][3][4] DELI and Nocentini derive it from the verb borrowed from French tourner (“to turn”), whose sense passed from “to turn on a lathe” to “to turn now this way, now that”, and so “to alternate”.[2][3] DELI argues that the late date of the Italian word rules out a direct loan of Old French torn, later tour, the noun formed from that verb.[2][3][5] DEI and Prati derive it from the modern French noun,[4][6] Devoto–Oli from the Old French one, and Devoto and Gabrielli from the Old French noun crossed with the modern one.[7][8][9] Battaglia gives the noun first without ruling out the verb.[10]

The French verb continues Latin tornō (“to turn on a lathe”), the source of Italian tornare.[4][11][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated record of the modern sense is in De Luca (1673), on the rota of prelates' posts: “it was established that the circle, or rather the turno, for the prelacies should be distributed in three triennia”.[2][10] DEI and Tommaseo cite an earlier turno in Cino da Pistoia, of the 14th century (“Poichè perdè Saturno il suo bel turno”).[4][12] Battaglia treats a turno of Cecco d'Ascoli, “tumble; downward motion of a star”, as a separate, southern form of torno.[10]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century Fagiuoli used the word, and in 1853 D'Ayala recorded the regular rotation of persons in a duty, the sense on which GRADIT and Nocentini base their date.[4][2][3] Tommaseo added the hospital turno medico and the medico di turno, the doctor on duty in turn, and the period of time each person works (1879).[12][2] Panzini's dictionary had the rotation of services in 1905.[2]

The word later spread to the shift in factories (turno di notte “night shift”), the rounds of a tournament and the days of a league championship, and in politics the ballots of an election (doppio turno “two-round system”).[5][13] The derivative turnista, a shift worker, was labelled a bureaucratic word in 1963.[2]

Timeline

  • 14th century – A turno appears in Cino da Pistoia, as DEI reports.[4]
  • 1673 – De Luca uses it for a rota of offices.[2]
  • 1853 – D'Ayala records the rotation of persons in a duty.[2][3]
  • 1879 – Tommaseo's dictionary has the sense “each period in a rota”.[2]
  • 1905 – Panzini records the rotation of services.[2]
  • 1963 – Turnista “shift worker” is recorded.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Rotation: the taking of turns by persons or groups in a job or service, in a fixed order: Abbiamo organizzato i turni per pulire la cucina.[5][7][11]
  2. Shift: each period into which a job is divided among those who take turns, often eight hours: Domani faccio il turno del pomeriggio.[5][7][11]
  3. The team that works a given shift: Il secondo turno entra alle due.[5][7][14]
  4. Turn: the moment when it falls to someone to do something: Aspetto il mio turno dal dentista.[5][7][11]
  5. (sport) A round of a tournament, or a match day of a league: La squadra è uscita al secondo turno.[5][7][13]
  6. (politics) Each ballot of an election held in more than one vote.[13]

Word family

  • turnista
  • turnazione

Usage notes

A turno means “in turn, one at a time”, and di turno “on duty”: a farmacia di turno is a chemist open on a holiday or at night.[5][13][14] È il mio turno “it's my turn” has the same sense as tocca a me.[13][7]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3935
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  6. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1024
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  8. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  10. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21
  11. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  12. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  13. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  14. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana