turning point

turning point

English

Pronunciation

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Noun

turning point (plural turning points)

1. A decisive point at which a significant change or historical event occurs, or at which a decision must be made.

   Synonyms: crossroads, watershed

   • 1997, Billie Joe Armstrong (lyrics and music), “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)”, performed by Green Day:

     Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road / Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go

   • 2012 April 23, Angelique Chrisafis, “François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election”, in The Guardian‎:

     Europe will be watching the final battle closely. A Hollande victory in the second round would be a turning point in European politics, a rare victory for the left in Europe, which has in recent years moved towards the right

2. (calculus) A maximum or minimum on a graph.
3. A crossroads.
4. A T-junction.

Translations

decisive point

Bulgarian: повратна точка f (povratna točka) Chinese: Mandarin: 轉折點／转折点 (zh) (zhuǎnzhédiǎn) Danish: vendepunkt n Dutch: keerpunt (nl) n, wendepunt n Finnish: käännekohta (fi), murros (fi) French: tournant (fr) m, moment charnière (fr) m Galician: punto de inflexión German: Wendepunkt (de) m, Zäsur (de) f (formal) Hungarian: fordulópont (hu) Icelandic: þáttaskil (is) n pl Italian: svolta (it) f, inversione (it) f Latin: discrīmen (la) n Maori: taihuringa Norwegian: Bokmål: vendepunkt (no) n Nynorsk: vendepunkt n Persian: نقطه‌ی عطف‎, دگرگون‌گاه‎ Polish: punkt zwrotny m Portuguese: virada de mesa f Romanian: punct de cotitură n Russian: перело́мный моме́нт m (perelómnyj momént), поворо́тный моме́нт m (povorótnyj momént), поворо́тный пункт m (povorótnyj punkt) Spanish: punto de inflexión (es) m Swedish: vändpunkt (sv) c Thai: จุดวิกฤต (jùt-wí-grʉ̀t) Turkish: dönüm noktası (tr) Ukrainian: перело́мний моме́нт m (perelómnyj momént), поворо́тний моме́нт m (povorótnyj momént), поворо́тний пункт m (povorótnyj punkt), перело́м m (perelóm) Vietnamese: bước ngoặt (vi), bước quyết định

(calculus) maximum or minimum

Bulgarian: екстремум m (ekstremum) Danish: vendepunkt n Finnish: ääriarvo (fi), käännepiste (fi) German: Extremwert (de) m Norwegian: vendepunkt (no) n Swedish: extremvärde (sv) n Thai: จุดวกกลับ (jùt-wók-glàp) Turkish: kırılma noktası

crossroads — see crossroads

T-junction — see T-junction

See also

• momentous (English adjective-equivalent)