Meanings
verbdeturn (third-person singular simple present deturns, present participle deturning, simple past and past participle deturned)
present singular third person deturns · participle present deturning · participle past deturned · past deturned
- obsoleteTo turn away; to divert or deflect.
the force that can deturn a feather from its course downwards, is not able to deturn a ſtone
1644, Kenelme [i.e., Kenelm] Digby, Two Treatises. In the One of which, the Nature of Bodies; in the Other, the Nature of Mans Soule; is Looked into: In Way of Discovery, of the Immortality of Reasonable Soules, Paris: […] Gilles Blaizot, →OCLC
Origin
From de- + turn. Compare detour.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
deturn. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deturn
MLA
“deturn.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deturn. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “deturn,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deturn.
Source: deturn on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.