Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “torturous” come from?

Torturous comes from Middle English -ous, from Old French -eux, from Latin -osus, ultimately from Latin torquere meaning to twist or turn.

torturous (English): Of or pertaining to torture; Painful,...

Definitions

  1. Of or pertaining to torture; Painful,...

Ancestry of “torturous”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchtortureus—
2Latintortūra—
3Latintortustwisted, crooked; spun, whirled; bent, distorted
4Latin-tusForms the past participle of verbs; Forms...
5Proto-Italic-tus—
6Proto-Indo-European-tusDerives action nouns from verb roots

Words derived from “torturous”

  • torturously
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tus →