Etymology and origin of the Latin word tortura
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- after 220 AD, Itala
- Ultimate origin
- Latin torqueō
From the same root
Forms
tortūra f (genitive tortūrae); first declension[1]
Etymology
It is formed from Latin torqueō (“to twist; to torture”) + -tūra.[1][2][3]
Earliest recorded meaning
Conte finds it in the Old Latin Bible (Itala), which Köbler dates after 220 AD, in the book of Sirach for the gripes and for torture.[4][5] Lewis & Short call it post-classical.[6]
Semantic evolution
In the late authors it meant a twisting, as of a vine shoot in Palladius;[6][3] in Vegetius' veterinary work it is colic, and also a sprain or dislocation;[6][2][4] Jerome uses it figuratively for torment or suffering.[4]
In medieval Latin it was above all judicial torture, used to force a confession,[7][8] but also an arbitrary exaction, extortion or an unfounded claim,[8][9] and the twisting or plaiting of hair;[9] Du Cange also records it for a winding road or detour.[7] English torture (early 15th century, first in medicine) comes from Old French torture and directly from Late Latin tortūra,[10] and Italian tortura from the Late Latin word.[4]
Timeline
- after 220 AD – The Old Latin Bible uses it in Sirach for colic and torment.[4][5]
- c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it figuratively for suffering.[4][5]
- c. 400 AD – Vegetius uses it for colic and for a sprain.[6][2][5]
- end of the 4th or beginning of the 5th century AD – Palladius uses it for the twisting of a vine shoot.[6][5]
- 1077 – A British text forbids doing injury or wrongful exaction on certain possessions.[9]
- 1138 – A council at Westminster forbids nuns the plaiting of hair.[9]
- early 15th century – English borrows it as torture.[10]
Meanings
Noun
- A twisting, wreathing.[6][3][4]
- (medicine) The gripes, colic.[6][2][4]
- (medicine) A sprain, dislocation.[2][4]
- Torment, torture, suffering.[6][4][3]
- (Medieval Latin) Judicial torture.[7][8]
- (Medieval Latin) An arbitrary exaction, extortion; an unfounded claim.[8][9]
- (Medieval Latin) A plaiting of hair.[9]
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
- ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
- ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
- ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
- ^ a b c d e f Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
- ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Borrowed into
- English torture
Cite this entry
“Tortura.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/tortura. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.
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