tortura

Forms

tortura f (plural torture)^[1] An old variant is Old Italian turtura.^[2]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Late Latin tortūra (“a twisting”), a fairly late Latin word recorded in Vegetius.^[3][4][5][1] The Latin noun is formed from torqueō (“to twist”) with the suffix -tūra, through its past participle tortus.^[3][1][6] It first meant the twisting of the limbs to cause pain.^[4][7]

The same Latin word gave French torture, recorded from the 12th century, and Spanish tortura.^[5][4][8]

De Vaan explains the verb as a causative, Proto-Italic *torkʷeje-, from Proto-Indo-European *torkʷéyeti (“to twist”).^[9] Sanskrit and Tocharian verbs meaning “to turn” are cognate.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in Rinaldo d'Aquino, a Tuscan text of the first half of the 13th century, where the word means a twisting or bending that causes harm.^[2][4] Zingarelli dates the word to about 1250.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian used tortura for twisting and for a bend in a path or body: Dante's E già venuto all'ultima tortura / s'era per noi (Purgatorio XXV) means “we had now come to the last turn”, though some commentators read “torment” there.^[2][11][10] A vine-growing text speaks of the tortura of a tied shoot.^[12]

The legal sense, bodily torment applied to an accused person to extract a confession, is recorded from Firenzuola, 1518–1525.^[3][5] Tommaseo–Bellini quotes porre alla tortura “to put to the torture” from Firenzuola, and Savonarola argued that such matters should be inquired into “not with tortures or torments”.^[12][13] The figurative sense of a great annoyance is in Vincenzo da Filicaia, before 1707.^[3] The verb torturare followed in 1598, in Florio.^[3]

Timeline

• First half of the 13th century – Rinaldo d'Aquino uses tortura.^[2][4]
• 1313–1319 – Dante's ultima tortura in the Purgatorio.^[3][14]
• 1518–1525 – Firenzuola uses tortura for judicial torture.^[3]
• 1598 – Torturare appears in Florio's dictionary.^[3]
• Before 1707 – Vincenzo da Filicaia uses the figurative sense “torment”.^[3]
• 1805 – D'Alberti records torturato.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. torture: bodily or mental torment inflicted on a prisoner or accused person to extract a confession or information, once a legal practice and now banned: confessare sotto tortura.^{[14][6][15][1]}
2. (by extension) Any act of deliberate cruelty, for brutality or revenge.^[14][6][15]
3. (figurative, hyperbolic) torment, great suffering or annoyance: quella riunione è stata una vera tortura.^{[14][6][10][1]}
4. (obsolete) A twisting, bending, or the point where something bends.^{[14][10][16][1]}

Word family

• torturare
• torturatore

Related words

• torcere
• torto
• tormento
• Latin torqueō

Usage notes

Mettere alla tortura means to put to the torture, and tortura cinese names an elaborate torment.^[10][11][14] Tortura is also a form of the verb torturare.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3838
6. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
14. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
15. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana