English
heel turn
From heel (“rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg”) + turn; sense 2 (“act of turning around abruptly”) is derived from turn heel or turn on one’s heel.
A compound of heel ‘rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg’ + turn
Proto-Indo-European *kenk- ‘to feel hunger’
…
Proto-Germanic *hanhilaz ‘heel (of the foot)’
Proto-West Germanic *hą̄hilō
Old English hēla ‘heel (of the foot)’
Middle English hele
English heel
Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- ‘to rub, rub by turning, turn’
…
Latin tornō ‘to round off, turn in a lathe’
Proto-West Germanic *turnēn ‘to turn, lathe’
Old English turnian ‘to turn, rotate’
Middle English turnen ‘to turn’
English turn
The story
From heel (‘rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg’) + turn; sense 2 (‘act of turning around abruptly’) is derived from turn heel or turn on one’s heel. Sense 4 ("A situation in which a wrestler previously identified as a hero changes to being considered a villain") is a pun on the word heel, which also means “a headlining wrestler whose ring persona embodies villainous or reprehensible traits”.
Today it means
noun A ballroom dancing move in which the dancer steps backwards, shifts their weight on to the back foot, and turns on the heel of that foot while holding the other foot close and parallel to it.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / heel turn