English
turnback
Deverbal from turn back.
Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- ‘to rub, rub by turning, turn’
…
Latin tornō ‘to round off, turn in a lathe’
Proto-West Germanic *turnēn ‘to turn, lathe’
Old English turnian ‘to turn, rotate’
Middle English turnen ‘to turn’
English turn
Proto-Germanic *baką ‘back’
Proto-West Germanic *bak
Old English bæc
Middle English bak ‘the back’
English back
Today it means
noun Part of a garment that is turned back.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “turnback”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / turnback