Where does “tortuous” come from?

tortuous (Middle English) comes from Latin tortuōsus, from Latin tortus, from Latin -tus, from Proto-Italic -tus, from Proto-Indo-European -tus — Derives action nouns from verb roots.

Ancestry of “tortuous”, step by step

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

Words derived from “tortuous”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tus →
tortuous — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer