turn of the century

noun

The beginning or end of a certain century; the transition from one century to the next; often, especially in architecture, the beginning of the 20th century.

“By the turn of the century he was starting to become well known in literary circles.”

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Meanings

nounturn of the century (usually uncountable, plural turns of the centuries or turns of centuries)

plural turns of the centuries · plural turns of centuries

  1. uncountableusuallyThe beginning or end of a certain century; the transition from one century to the next; often, especially in architecture, the beginning of the 20th century.

    By the turn of the century he was starting to become well known in literary circles.

    1 more example

    The 7th and 8th classes are identical with the Cape engines placed in service at the turn of the century, and are now outclassed for main line work but are used for shunting at the large depots and on one or two of the branch lines.

    1940 December, O. S. M. Raw, “The Rhodesia Railways—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 639

Translations

Arabic مُنْعَطَفُ الْقَرْنِ
  • مُنْعَطَفُ الْقَرْنِ (munʕaṭafu l-qarni)beginning or end of a certain century
Dutch eeuwwisseling
  • eeuwwisselingbeginning or end of a certain century
Esperanto jarcentŝanĝo
  • jarcentŝanĝobeginning or end of a certain century
Finnish vuosisadanvaihde
  • vuosisadanvaihdebeginning or end of a certain century
German Jahrhundertwende
  • Jahrhundertwendebeginning or end of a certain century
Hungarian századforduló
  • századfordulóbeginning or end of a certain century
Norwegian Bokmål århundreskifte
  • århundreskiftebeginning or end of a certain century
Polish przełom wieku
  • przełom wiekubeginning or end of a certain century
Spanish cambio de siglo
  • cambio de siglobeginning or end of a certain century
Swedish sekelskifte
  • sekelskiftebeginning or end of a certain century
Cite this entry
APA

turn of the century. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turn%20of%20the%20century

MLA

“turn of the century.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turn%20of%20the%20century. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “turn of the century,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turn%20of%20the%20century.

Source: turn of the century on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.