Turn of the century, in its broadest sense, refers to the transition from one century to another. The term is most often used to indicate a non-specific time period either before or after the beginning of a century.

Where no specific century is stated, the term usually refers to the transition from the 19th century into the 20th century (1890–1914): a novel referring to "turn of the century England," indicates England, circa 1900.

According to the Chicago Manual of Style, there is no common agreement about the phrase "turn of the ____th century." For instance, if a statement describes an event as taking place "at the turn of the 18th century", it could refer to a period around the year 1700 or one around the year 1800. As such, they recommend using only "turn of the century," and only in a context that makes clear which transition is meant.

The period around the turn of the 1st century of a millennium can also be called the "turn of the millennium". For example, the period 1981-2020 can be described both as the "turn of the 21st century" and the "turn of the third millennium".

See also

• Fin de siècle
  Fin de siècle
  Fin de siècle is French for "end of the century". The term sometimes encompasses both the closing and onset of an era, as it was felt to be a period of degeneration, but at the same time a period of hope for a new beginning...
  
  
• Gilded Age
  Gilded Age
  In United States history, the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post–Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century. The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their book The Gilded...
  
  
• 1890s
  1890s
  The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the "Mauve Decade" - because William Henry Perkin's aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that colour in fashion - and also as the "Gay Nineties", under the then-current usage of the word "gay" which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no...
  
   • 1900s • 1910s
  1910s
  File:1910s montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Model T Ford is introduced and becomes widespread; The sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic causes the deaths of nearly 1,500 people and attracts global and historical attention; Title bar: All the events below are part of World War I ; French Army lookout...
  
  
• 1990s
  1990s
  File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
  
   • 2000s • 2010s
  2010s
  The 2010s, pronounced "twenty-tens" or "two thousand tens", is the current decade which began on January 1, 2010 and will end on December 31, 2019...
  
  
• Information Age
  Information Age
  The Information Age, also commonly known as the Computer Age or Digital Age, is an idea that the current age will be characterized by the ability of individuals to transfer information freely, and to have instant access to knowledge that would have been difficult or impossible to find previously...