"volte-face" meaning in All languages combined

See volte-face on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

IPA: /vɒltˈfæs/, /-ˈfɑːs/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-volte-face.wav Forms: volte-faces [plural]
Rhymes: -æs Etymology: Borrowed from French volte-face. Etymology templates: {{bor|en|fr|volte-face}} French volte-face Head templates: {{en-noun}} volte-face (plural volte-faces)
  1. A reversal of attitude, policy, or principle. Synonyms: about-face, U-turn Translations (reversal of attitude, policy, or principle): կտրուկ շրջադարձ (ktruk šrǰadarj) (Armenian), 变卦 (biàn guà) (Chinese Mandarin), obrat o 180 stupňů [masculine] (Czech), kovending [common-gender] (Danish), draai [masculine] (Dutch), volte-face [feminine] (Dutch), takinkääntö (Finnish), volte-face [feminine] (French), demi-tour [masculine] (French), marche arrière [feminine] (French), revirement [masculine] (French), Kehrtwende [feminine] (German), voltafaccia [masculine] (Italian), voltagabbana [masculine] (Italian), traditore [masculine] (Italian), banderuola [masculine] (Italian), voltacasacca [masculine] (Italian), reviravolta [feminine] (Portuguese), круто́й поворо́т (krutój povorót) (Russian), резкая переме́на (rezkaja pereména) (Russian), media vuelta [feminine] (Spanish), trở mặt (Vietnamese)
    Sense id: en-volte-face-en-noun-arXfLEXL Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 3 entries, Terms with Armenian translations, Terms with Czech translations, Terms with Danish translations, Terms with Dutch translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Vietnamese translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 68 32 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 78 22 Disambiguation of Pages with 3 entries: 14 3 39 44 Disambiguation of Terms with Armenian translations: 61 39 Disambiguation of Terms with Czech translations: 60 40 Disambiguation of Terms with Danish translations: 79 21 Disambiguation of Terms with Dutch translations: 82 18 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 69 31 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 84 16 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 81 19 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 86 14 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 78 22 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 70 30 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 86 14 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 73 27 Disambiguation of Terms with Vietnamese translations: 69 31 Disambiguation of 'reversal of attitude, policy, or principle': 99 1
  2. (literature, chiefly poetry) A dramatic change in mood or tone. Categories (topical): Literature, Poetry
    Sense id: en-volte-face-en-noun-rd1p0Jgi Topics: communications, journalism, literature, media, poetry, publishing, writing
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: volte face

Noun [French]

IPA: /vɔl.t(ə).fas/ Audio: LL-Q150 (fra)-WikiLucas00-volte-face.wav Forms: volte-face [plural], volte-faces [plural]
Etymology: Calque of Italian volta-faccia, itself from voltare (“to turn”) + faccia (“face”). Etymology templates: {{calque|fr|it|voltafaccia|volta-faccia}} Calque of Italian volta-faccia Head templates: {{fr-noun|f|#|+}} volte-face f (plural volte-face or volte-faces)
  1. U-turn; about face (act of turning round 180 degrees) Tags: feminine
    Sense id: en-volte-face-fr-noun-rwdzUGAV Categories (other): Pages with 3 entries, Pages with entries, French entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of Pages with 3 entries: 14 3 39 44 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 9 2 40 49 Disambiguation of French entries with incorrect language header: 46 54
  2. (figuratively) U-turn; volte-face Tags: feminine, figuratively Related terms: tête à queue, tête-à-queue
    Sense id: en-volte-face-fr-noun---KmOGYA Categories (other): Pages with 3 entries, Pages with entries, French entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of Pages with 3 entries: 14 3 39 44 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 9 2 40 49 Disambiguation of French entries with incorrect language header: 46 54

Noun [Indonesian]

Etymology: Unadapted borrowing from French volte-face (“U-turn”) Etymology templates: {{ubor|id|fr|volte-face|t=U-turn}} Unadapted borrowing from French volte-face (“U-turn”) Head templates: {{head|id|noun}} volte-face
  1. volte-face, about-face, U-turn: a reversal of attitude, policy, or principle.
    Sense id: en-volte-face-id-noun-PMxS7c7E Categories (other): Indonesian entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 3 entries, Pages with entries

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

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          "ref": "1983, James C. H. Shen, “Beginnings of Endings”, in Robert Myers, editor, The U.S. & Free China: How the U.S. Sold Out Its Ally, Washington, D.C.: Acropolis Books Ltd., →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 6:",
          "text": "Then, on July 15, 1971, came Nixon's sudden announcement that Kissinger had just made a secret trip to Peking and that he himself had accepted Chou En-lai's invitation to visit the Chinese mainland sometime before May, 1972. This was instantly interpreted in chancelleries all over the world as a sign that the United States was about to execute a volte-face in its China policy.",
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          "ref": "2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My Weirdest and Wackiest Rover Yet”, in Rail, pages 67–68:",
          "text": "My next stop is Oxford, which has also grown with the addition of new platforms to accommodate the Chiltern Railways service to London via Bicester – although, short sightedly, the planned electrification from Paddington was canned. Evidence of the volte-face can be seen along the line at places such as Radley, where mast piles are already sunk or lie discarded at the lineside.",
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          "ref": "2022 June 1, Joseph Stiglitz, “Davos 2022 meeting was a missed opportunity over globalisation”, in The Guardian:",
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          "word": "traditore"
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      "_dis1": "0 0",
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          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "volte-face, about-face, U-turn: a reversal of attitude, policy, or principle."
      ],
      "id": "en-volte-face-id-noun-PMxS7c7E",
      "links": [
        [
          "volte-face",
          "volte-face#English"
        ],
        [
          "about-face",
          "about-face"
        ],
        [
          "U-turn",
          "U-turn"
        ],
        [
          "reversal",
          "reversal"
        ],
        [
          "attitude",
          "attitude"
        ],
        [
          "policy",
          "policy"
        ],
        [
          "principle",
          "principle"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "volte-face"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms borrowed from French",
    "English terms derived from French",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 3 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/æs",
    "Rhymes:English/æs/2 syllables",
    "Terms with Armenian translations",
    "Terms with Czech translations",
    "Terms with Danish translations",
    "Terms with Dutch translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "Terms with Mandarin translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "Terms with Vietnamese translations"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "volte-face"
      },
      "expansion": "French volte-face",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from French volte-face.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "volte-faces",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "volte-face (plural volte-faces)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1921, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Psychoanalysis vs. Morality”, in Psychoanalysis and the Unconscious, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Seltzer, →OCLC, page 9:",
          "text": "Psychoanalysis has sprung many surprises on us, performed more than one volte face before our indignant eyes.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1983, James C. H. Shen, “Beginnings of Endings”, in Robert Myers, editor, The U.S. & Free China: How the U.S. Sold Out Its Ally, Washington, D.C.: Acropolis Books Ltd., →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 6:",
          "text": "Then, on July 15, 1971, came Nixon's sudden announcement that Kissinger had just made a secret trip to Peking and that he himself had accepted Chou En-lai's invitation to visit the Chinese mainland sometime before May, 1972. This was instantly interpreted in chancelleries all over the world as a sign that the United States was about to execute a volte-face in its China policy.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My Weirdest and Wackiest Rover Yet”, in Rail, pages 67–68:",
          "text": "My next stop is Oxford, which has also grown with the addition of new platforms to accommodate the Chiltern Railways service to London via Bicester – although, short sightedly, the planned electrification from Paddington was canned. Evidence of the volte-face can be seen along the line at places such as Radley, where mast piles are already sunk or lie discarded at the lineside.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 June 1, Joseph Stiglitz, “Davos 2022 meeting was a missed opportunity over globalisation”, in The Guardian:",
          "text": "For one-time advocates of unfettered globalisation, this volte-face has resulted in cognitive dissonance, because the new suite of policy proposals implies that longstanding rules of the international trading system will be bent or broken.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A reversal of attitude, policy, or principle."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "reversal",
          "reversal"
        ],
        [
          "attitude",
          "attitude"
        ],
        [
          "policy",
          "policy"
        ],
        [
          "principle",
          "principle"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "about-face"
        },
        {
          "word": "U-turn"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "en:Literature",
        "en:Poetry"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Shakespeare often used volte-faces in the rhyming couplets at the end of his sonnets.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A dramatic change in mood or tone."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "literature",
          "literature"
        ],
        [
          "poetry",
          "poetry"
        ],
        [
          "dramatic",
          "dramatic#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "change",
          "change#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "mood",
          "mood"
        ],
        [
          "tone",
          "tone#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(literature, chiefly poetry) A dramatic change in mood or tone."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "communications",
        "journalism",
        "literature",
        "media",
        "poetry",
        "publishing",
        "writing"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/vɒltˈfæs/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/-ˈfɑːs/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-volte-face.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/57/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-I_learned_some_phrases-volte-face.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-I_learned_some_phrases-volte-face.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/57/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-I_learned_some_phrases-volte-face.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-I_learned_some_phrases-volte-face.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-æs"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "volte face"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "hy",
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "roman": "ktruk šrǰadarj",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "word": "կտրուկ շրջադարձ"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "biàn guà",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "word": "变卦"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "obrat o 180 stupňů"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "kovending"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "draai"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "volte-face"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "word": "takinkääntö"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "volte-face"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "demi-tour"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "marche arrière"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "revirement"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Kehrtwende"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "voltafaccia"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "voltagabbana"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "traditore"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "banderuola"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "voltacasacca"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "reviravolta"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "krutój povorót",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "word": "круто́й поворо́т"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "rezkaja pereména",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "word": "резкая переме́на"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "media vuelta"
    },
    {
      "code": "vi",
      "lang": "Vietnamese",
      "sense": "reversal of attitude, policy, or principle",
      "word": "trở mặt"
    }
  ],
  "word": "volte-face"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "French 3-syllable words",
    "French countable nouns",
    "French entries with incorrect language header",
    "French feminine nouns",
    "French lemmas",
    "French multiword terms",
    "French nouns",
    "French terms calqued from Italian",
    "French terms derived from Italian",
    "French terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "Pages with 3 entries",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fr",
        "2": "it",
        "3": "voltafaccia",
        "4": "volta-faccia"
      },
      "expansion": "Calque of Italian volta-faccia",
      "name": "calque"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Calque of Italian volta-faccia, itself from voltare (“to turn”) + faccia (“face”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "volte-face",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "volte-faces",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "f",
        "2": "#",
        "3": "+"
      },
      "expansion": "volte-face f (plural volte-face or volte-faces)",
      "name": "fr-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "French",
  "lang_code": "fr",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "tête à queue"
    },
    {
      "word": "tête-à-queue"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "U-turn; about face (act of turning round 180 degrees)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "U-turn",
          "U-turn"
        ],
        [
          "about face",
          "about face"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "U-turn; volte-face"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "U-turn",
          "U-turn"
        ],
        [
          "volte-face",
          "volte-face#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figuratively) U-turn; volte-face"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "feminine",
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/vɔl.t(ə).fas/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q150 (fra)-WikiLucas00-volte-face.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d1/LL-Q150_%28fra%29-WikiLucas00-volte-face.wav/LL-Q150_%28fra%29-WikiLucas00-volte-face.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/d/d1/LL-Q150_%28fra%29-WikiLucas00-volte-face.wav/LL-Q150_%28fra%29-WikiLucas00-volte-face.wav.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "volte-face"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "id",
        "2": "fr",
        "3": "volte-face",
        "t": "U-turn"
      },
      "expansion": "Unadapted borrowing from French volte-face (“U-turn”)",
      "name": "ubor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Unadapted borrowing from French volte-face (“U-turn”)",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "id",
        "2": "noun"
      },
      "expansion": "volte-face",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Indonesian",
  "lang_code": "id",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Indonesian entries with incorrect language header",
        "Indonesian lemmas",
        "Indonesian multiword terms",
        "Indonesian nouns",
        "Indonesian terms borrowed from French",
        "Indonesian terms derived from French",
        "Indonesian unadapted borrowings from French",
        "Pages with 3 entries",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "volte-face, about-face, U-turn: a reversal of attitude, policy, or principle."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "volte-face",
          "volte-face#English"
        ],
        [
          "about-face",
          "about-face"
        ],
        [
          "U-turn",
          "U-turn"
        ],
        [
          "reversal",
          "reversal"
        ],
        [
          "attitude",
          "attitude"
        ],
        [
          "policy",
          "policy"
        ],
        [
          "principle",
          "principle"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "volte-face"
}

Download raw JSONL data for volte-face meaning in All languages combined (10.3kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.