'turntable' originates from English, formed as a compound of 'turn' + 'table'; 'turn' ultimately comes via Old French 'torner' (from Latin 'tornare') meaning 'to turn', and 'table' comes via Old French 'table' (from Latin 'tabula') meaning 'board' or 'plank'.

'turntable' developed in English as a descriptive compound meaning 'a table that turns'. By the 19th century the term was applied to industrial and furniture items; with the invention of phonographs/gramophones it came to be used specifically for the rotating platter of record players.

Initially it meant 'a table that turns' (a literal rotating table), but over time it evolved into the specialized meanings including 'the rotating platter of a record player', 'a revolving stage', and 'a railway turntable'.