Where does “torture” come from?

torture (Middle English) comes from Old French torture, from Latin tortūra, from Latin tortus, from Latin -tus, from Proto-Italic -tus, from Proto-Indo-European -tus — Derives action nouns from verb roots.

Ancestry of “torture”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchtorture—
2Latintortūraa twisting, wreathing
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 “torture”

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