torre

Forms

torre f (plural torres)^[1] Old Aragonese also had torr and tor.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish torre, inherited from Latin turris (“tower”).^[4][5][6][1] The word is used in every period and is common to all the western Romance languages: Portuguese torre, Galician torre, Catalan torre, Occitan torre, French tour and Italian torre.^[4][7][2] In Catalan and Aragonese it also means a country house.^[7] Basque borrowed it as dorre.^[2][1]

Latin took the word from Ancient Greek τύρσις (túrsis, “tower, fortified town”), with a form τύρρις (túrrhis) in Hesychius.^[1][8] Beekes calls it a loanword from a Mediterranean language, borrowed into Latin.^[8] Gómez de Silva also thinks it probably Mediterranean, and Wiktionary compares Τυρρηνός (Turrhēnós, “Etruscan”).^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the first record to a charter of 929, then Berceo.^[4][5] The Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy) has the fortified towers of a town: de diestro Alilón las torres, que moros las han, “on the right the towers of Alilón, which the Moors hold”.^[10] The Fuero Juzgo (1254) speaks of hanging a head on alguna torre de rey, “some tower of the king”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Covarrubias in 1611 defined a tower as a strong building, smaller than a fortress and often part of one, raised above the walls to defend them; the church belfry was also a tower; and the torre del omenaje was the highest and strongest one, where the warden swore homage.^[12] He also recorded armar torres de viento, “to build castles in the air”, a phrase found in Cartagena de Indias in 1587.^[12][13] The Diccionario de Autoridades added that in some provinces torre was a country house with gardens.^[14] By 1884 the Academy also defined the chess piece.^[15]

The DLE now has a tall building, the armoured gun turret of a warship and the siege tower of old, and in Cuba and Puerto Rico the chimney of a sugar mill.^[6] Tagalog tore and Quechua turri were borrowed from Spanish.^[1]

Timeline

• 929 – first record, in a charter.^[4][5]
• 1092 – the Old Aragonese form torr.^[3]
• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid has the towers of Alilón.^[10]
• 1148 – first record of torrecilla.^[4]
• 1220–1250 – Berceo uses the word and torrejón.^[4][5]
• 1254 – the Fuero Juzgo speaks of a royal tower.^[11]
• 1533 – first record from the Americas, in Santa Marta.^[13]
• c. 1570 – first record of torreón.^[4][5]
• 1611 – Covarrubias explains the torre del omenaje.^[12]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary defines the chess piece.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. tower: a fortified building, taller than it is wide, built to defend a town or stronghold.^[6][1]
2. A tall building of a church, where the bells hang, or of a house, for the view and for ornament; a belfry.^[6]
3. A building much taller than its area; a tower block, a skyscraper: Viven en el piso veinte de una torre.^[6][1]
4. (chess) The rook.^[6][1]
5. (military, nautical) The armoured turret on the deck of a warship that houses guns.^[6][16]
6. (historical) A movable wooden siege tower used to attack walls.^[6]
7. (Catalonia, Murcia, Zaragoza) A country house or farm with a garden.^[6]
8. (Cuba, Puerto Rico) The chimney of a sugar mill.^[6]

Word family

• torrejón
• torrero
• torrear
• torrecilla
• torreón

Related words

• Latin turris
• Portuguese torre
• French tour

Usage notes

Set phrases include torre del homenaje “keep”, torre de marfil “ivory tower”, torre de control “control tower” and torre de Babel.^[1][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. turris
3. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. torre
4. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 560
5. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. torre
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. torre
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. torre
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. torre
11. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. torre
12. ^ a b c d Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1339
13. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. torre
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 306
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 1036
16. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. torre