Where does “torture” come from?
torture (Old French) comes 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
torture traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Latin tortūra
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | tortūra | a twisting, wreathing |
| 2 | Latin | tortus | twisted, crooked; spun, whirled; bent, distorted |
| 3 | Latin | -tus | Forms the past participle of verbs; Forms... |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | -tus | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -tus | Derives action nouns from verb roots |
via Late Latin tortura
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Late Latin | tortura | a twisting, writhing, of bodily pain, a griping... |