return

Definition

To come or go back (to a place or person).

Etymology

From Middle English returnen, retornen, from Anglo-Norman returner, from Old French retourner, retorner, from Medieval Latin retornare (“to turn back”), from re- + tornare (“to turn”). By surface analysis, re- + turn. Compare beturn.

Example Sentences

• "Although the birds fly north for the summer, they return here in winter."
• "The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house."
• ""I came through and I shall return," General MacArthur declared when he spoke at Terowie of the beleagured Philippines."

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