Etymologically
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extorqueo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛkˈstɔr.kʷe.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ekˈstɔr.kʷe.o][1]

Forms

extorqueō (present infinitive extorquēre, perfect active extorsī, supine extortum); second conjugation[1] Prudentius scans the ending -e short, and land-surveyors have the spelling extorc-.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from ex- (“out”) and torqueō (“to twist”).[3][2][1] De Vaan derives ⟨torqueō⟩ from Proto-Italic *torkʷeye- (“to twist”) and the causative Proto-Indo-European *torkʷ-éye- (“to twist”), cognate with Sanskrit तर्कु (tarku-, “spindle”) and Hittite tarku- (“to dance”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest example is Plautus, of “twisted ankles”, a conjecture in the Cistellaria;[3] Terence has immō hercle extorque, “no, by Hercules, put him to the rack”.[3]

Semantic evolution

It is to wrench something away, as Cicero's “we wrenched the sword from his hands”, also figuratively, as Macedonia wrested from Antony's brother.[3][5] It is to obtain by force or extort, as Cicero's 400,000 sesterces extorted by Verres, to force someone by argument, as Cicero's “since you have forced me to admit it”, and to wring out tears.[3][5]

It is also to dislocate or sprain a joint, to cripple, and to torture on the rack, as in Terence.[3] Church Latin glosses it “twist, extract, extort”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of twisted ankles.[3][7]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence of torture on the rack.[3][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of wrenching away a sword and of extortion.[3][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To wrench away, wrest out.[3][5][1]
  2. To obtain by force, extort; to force (by argument); to wring out (tears).[3][5][1][6]
  3. To dislocate, sprain; to cripple; to torture on the rack.[3]

Word family

  • extorsio
  • extortor
  • extortus
  • contorqueō
  • dētorqueō
  • intorqueō
  • retorqueō
  • torqueō
  • English extort

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de