dönmek (Turkish)

Where does "dönmek" come from?

The Turkish verb 'dönmek' comes directly from Ottoman Turkish 'dönmek'[1], spelled in the Arabic script as 'دونمك'[1][2]. Going back further, it is inherited from the Proto-Turkic root '*tȫn-', which originally carried the sense of 'to turn back' or 'to return'[2].

Open questions

• The Proto-Turkic ancestor form '*tȫn-' is an unattested reconstruction. [1] [2]

Full etymology tree

• dönmek (Turkish), 'to turn'
  • inherited دونمك (dönmek) (Ottoman Turkish), 'to turn, rotate, spin, gyrate, revolve, to move around an axis through itself'
    • inherited *tȫn- (Proto-Turkic)

Ancestors

• دونمك (Ottoman Turkish)

Cognates and doublets

• төнүн (Yakut)

Descendants and derived words

• döner (Turkish)
• döner (Turkish)
• döner (Turkish)
• döner kebap (Turkish)
• dönme (Turkish)
• dönme (Turkish)
• dönüm (Turkish)

Sources

1. dönmek (Turkish) - Wiktionary
2. دونمك (dönmek) (Ottoman Turkish) - Wiktionary

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris