An archaic or dialectal term meaning to turn toward or turn around something.
From 'at-' (to) + 'turn,' where 'turn' comes from Latin 'tornare' via Old French. The 'at-' prefix intensifies or directs the action.
This old verb shows how English used to build words more flexibly with prefixes—we still have 'return' and 'upturn,' but 'atturn' mostly vanished, showing how language constantly loses and preserves words.
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