Where does “torture” come from?
torture (Latin) comes from Latin torturus, from Latin torqueo, from Proto-Indo-European terkʷ- — to turn, spin.
torture (Latin): vocative masculine singular of tortūrus
Definitions
- vocative masculine singular of tortūrus
Ancestry of “torture”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Latin | torturus | about to twist |
| 2 | Latin | torqueo | I twist, wind; I hurl violently; I spin, whirl; I... |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-European | terkʷ- | to turn, spin |