# Torno (de un convento)



## semifusa

Hi! how could I translate the word "Torno" when it describes this artifact that closed orders used to have (and still have) to admit or send away goods?

Thks everybody!


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## frida-nc

Since it was characteristic of Spanish and Latin American cloistered convents, we probably would retain the Spanish term _torno_ in speaking about it.  By way of explanation, we could say " revolving pass-through  similar to a 'lazy Susan.'" 

Good luck.


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## semifusa

thks a lot Frida, most helpful and besides I just learned what a "lazy Susan" is. Revolving pass-through is perfect as complementary explanation. Thanks again!


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## mppozuelo

I think the word is revolving window, similar to revolving door for 'puerta giratoria'


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## rodelu2

I believe "turnstile" is the word.


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## frida-nc

It's a good word, but I don't think it would fit this case.
A turnstile is a full-length gate  

(dictionary.com)
*turn·stile*
noun 1.a structure of four horizontally revolving arms pivoted atop a post and set in a gateway or opening in a fence to allow the controlled passage of people.

2.a  similar device set up in an entrance to bar passage until a charge is  paid, to record the number of persons passing through, etc.

I wouldn't use this, but I might use turntable or turnplate.  

Here's an Italian-English description, suggesting the word *turntable.*  It also refers to the form of a "cabinet."

This definition ... from _Il Piccolo Palazzi - moderno dizionario della lingua italiana_ could be translated: "_Ruota_:  type of [pass-through] cabinet revolving on a pivot, used in cloistered  convents to give or to receive things from the outside."  Maybe this  was a turntable in a wall, constructed so that one could not see where  the things that were passed through it either came from or went.

There's an Italian thread on this, too.


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## rodelu2

http://books.google.com.uy/books?id...#v=onepage&q=orphan child,s turnstile&f=false

An aged reference for an old word and a hopefully long-forgotten practice.


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## pops91710

Any English references I have found all say "turntable".

"The first essay, 'Lifers', explains the title. Eagleton, aged 10, was an altar-boy whose duties included attending novice nuns when they took the veil. He would also be called upon to man the _*convent turntable*_, through which privileged objects (such as Timothy the watchdog) could pass back and forth between sacred and profane realms." http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/jan/06/biography.features


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## rodelu2

Then again, turntable in that particular quote might refer to the device used by cloistered nuns to exchange (inanimate) goods with the outside world.


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## pops91710

Exactly. That was my point. I confess that I have never heard of neither _torno_ nor_ convent turntable._ I am not familiar with Catholic artifacts, not being myself a Catholic. It would seem that Frida's offering of 'turntable' would be accurate enough to use. 

Here is another: http://books.google.com/books?id=ay...ved=0CFoQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=turntable&f=false


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