tornare Italian · revision 37519

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1158, Testimonianze di Travale|origins=grc τόρνος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /torˈna.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tornare''' (first-person singular present tórno, first-person singular past historic tornài, past participle tornàto, auxiliary (intransitive) èssere or (transitive) avére)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|tornō|t=to turn on a lathe]], from [[m|la|tornus|t=lathe]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) The Latin noun was borrowed from [[grc|τόρνος|tr=tórnos|t=compass; lathe]], from [[ine-pro|*terh₁-|t=to rub, twist]],^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012) and DELI sees the verb as a Latin adaptation of [[m|grc|τορνεύω|tr=tornéuō|t=to turn on a lathe]].^(DELI 1999) From “to turn on the lathe” the verb came to mean “to turn”, and then “to come back to the same place”, and it took over much of the ground of [[m|la|volvō|t=to roll, turn]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GDLI)

+

+ The word is panromance: [[fr|tourner]], [[oc|tornar]], [[ca|tornar]], [[es|tornar]], [[pt|tornar]], [[sc|torrar]] and [[ro|turna|t=to pour]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) Latin passed it also to [[ang|tyrnan]].^(DEI|3830)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is in the Testimonianze di Travale of 1158, in the sense “to go again”.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante uses the verb for returning to where one set out, “vegno del loco ove tornar disio” (I come from the place where I long to return, ''Inferno'' 2), and transitively, in a literary use, for turning something.^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI) Boccaccio has the senses “to come back from a place” and “to become again”, and Galileo, before 1642, “to come out right, to add up”, as in ''i conti tornano''.^(DELI 1999) The noun ''tornaconto'' “self-interest” (1853, Giusti) comes from the phrase ''il conto torna''.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ Some phrases come from French: ''tornare alla carica'' translates ''revenir à la charge'', and ''tornante'' “hairpin bend” (1898) adapts French ''tournant''.^(DELI 1999) In Tuscany ''tornare'' also means “to move into” a house.^(Cortelazzo & Marcato 1998)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1158 – ''Tornare'' “to go again” in the Testimonianze di Travale.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for returning to one's starting point.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for “to become again”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1642 – Galileo uses it for “to add up”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1853 – ''Tornaconto'' in Giuseppe Giusti.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1898 – ''Tornante'' “hairpin bend” in Edmondo De Amicis.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(intransitive, auxiliary essere)'' To [[m|en|return]], to go or come back to where one started: ''torno a casa alle sei''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To come back from a place: ''è appena tornata dal mare''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To go again to a place where one has been: ''l'estate prossima torneremo in Sicilia''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # To come back to a subject or a decision: ''tornare sull'argomento'', ''tornare sui propri passi''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Of things, to [[m|en|reappear]], to happen again: ''è tornato il freddo''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # With ''a'' and an infinitive, to do something again: ''dopo anni è tornato a dipingere''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To become again: ''il mare è tornato calmo''.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of accounts or reasoning, to add up, to be right: ''qualcosa non torna''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(transitive, literary)'' To give back; to turn.^(Wiktionary)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ritornare]]

+ * [[tornaconto]]

+ * [[tornata]]

+ * [[torno]]

+ * [[tornello]]

+ * [[attorno]]

+ * [[intorno]]

+ * [[dintorno]]

+ * [[contorno]]

+ * [[contornare]]

+ * [[stornare]]

+ * [[frastornare]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tornio]]

+ * [[tornire]]

+ * [[tornante]]

+ * [[torneo]]

+ * [[la|tornus]]

+ * [[fr|tourner]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Fixed phrases include ''tornare a galla'' (to resurface), ''tornare in sé'' (to come to one's senses), ''tornare a bomba'' (to get back to the point) and ''tornare indietro'' (to go back, to back out).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) The colloquial ''tornarsene'' means to go back home: ''me ne torno in albergo''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}