torque

torque¹ neck ring

Etymology

The neck ring is borrowed from French torque,^[1][2][4][5] from Latin torques (“a collar of twisted metal”), also torquis,^[1][6] from torqueō (“to twist”).^[1][4][5][7] Etymonline and Weekley take it directly from the Latin noun.^[6][8] Skeat compares Welsh torch (“a wreath”) and Old Irish torc,^[5] and Dictionary.com thinks the spelling torc perhaps comes from Irish, itself ultimately from Latin.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A collar or neck chain, usually of metal, worn by the ancient Gauls, Germans and Britons: Merriam-Webster dates it to 1695.^[1] The Latin form torques was used in English for the same ornament from 1693, in a letter of Pepys,^[10] and Etymonline dates it to the 1690s.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Antiquarians used the word for the twisted metal necklaces of the ancient Gauls, Britons and Germans, and Etymonline dates this use to 1834,^[6] the year the OED gives for the spelling torc, in Planché's History of British Costume.^[10] The Shorter Oxford and Hoad date the French-derived torque to the 19th century.^[2][4] An earlier adjective torques, twisted, bent, was used only in the 16th century,^[2][10] and since 1891 the Latin form has also named a ring of coloured hair or feathers round an animal's neck.^[10]

Timeline

• 1568 – adjective torques, twisted, bent (rare, obsolete).^[10][2]
• 1693 – torques, a twisted neck ring.^[10][6]
• 1695 – torque, a neck ring of the ancient Gauls, Germans and Britons.^[1]
• 1834 – the spelling torc, in Planché.^[10][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A necklace or armband of twisted metal, worn especially by the ancient Celts, Gauls and Britons; also spelled torc.^[11][1][2]

torque² twisting force

Etymology tree of torque²

inherited borrowed derived

Latin torqueo

English torque

From the same root · torque²

Latin contorqueo ← torqueo

Latin detorqueo ← torqueo

Latin distorqueo ← torqueo

Latin intorqueo ← torqueo

Latin obtorqueo ← torqueo

Latin retorqueo ← torqueo

Latin torculus ← torqueo

Latin tormentum ← torqueo

Latin tortor ← torqueo

Latin tortura ← torqueo

Latin tortus ← torqueo

Etymology

The twisting force is borrowed from Latin torqueō (“to twist, turn, distort, torture”),^{[10][6][12][13][2][14]} from a causative form of Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- (“to twist”).^[6][13] Klein lists among its relatives Ancient Greek ἄτρακτος (átraktos, “spindle; arrow”).^[7] The verb, to apply torque, is formed from the noun.^[10][12][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The twisting or rotating force in a mechanism, as a measurable quantity: 1884, in the scientific papers of James Thomson.^[10][12][1] Etymonline dates it to 1882,^[6] and Dictionary.com gives 1825–35.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In 1899 the word was proposed as the name of a unit of rotating force.^[10] The verb is dated 1954 by Barnhart and Etymonline, first implied in torquing,^[12][6] 1959 by Merriam-Webster and 1960 by the OED.^[1][10] Torque wrench is recorded from 1941.^[6] In American slang torque, also torque off, has meant to annoy someone since 1988, and on campuses to try to seduce someone.^[15]

Timeline

• 1882 – rotating force, according to Etymonline.^[6]
• 1884 – the twisting or rotary force in a mechanism.^[10][12][1]
• 1899 – a proposed unit of torque.^[10]
• 1941 – torque wrench.^[6]
• 1954 – verb, to apply torque, implied in torquing.^[12][6]
• 1988 – slang verb, to annoy.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. A force or system of forces that causes or tends to cause rotation, measured as the force times its distance from the axis; a moment of force.^[11][1][10]
2. The ability of an engine or a shaft to cause rotation: The new diesel has plenty of torque at low speeds.^[11]

Verb

1. To apply torque to something; to cause it to twist: The mechanic torqued the wheel nuts.^[1][10]
2. (US slang) Often torque off: to annoy someone.^[15]

Word family

• torquer
• torquey
• torque converter
• torque wrench