distortus Latin · revision 34637

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=ine-pro *torkʷ-eie-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''distortus''' (feminine ''distorta'', neuter ''distortum''), comparative ''distortior'', superlative ''distortissimus''; first/second-declension adjective^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Used as an adjective, it is the past participle [[der|la|distorqueō|t=to twist apart, distort]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) That verb is a compound of [[m|la|dis-]] and [[m|la|torqueō|t=to twist]],^(de Vaan 2008) which goes back to [[itc-pro|*torkʷ-eie-]] and the causative [[ine-pro|*torkʷ-eie-|t=to twist]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler records it first in Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) who uses it of misshapen people and figuratively of a warped state of mind.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Georges 1913)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of the body it means twisted or deformed: Horace has ''distortis cruribus'', “with crooked legs”, Quintilian a distorted face and body, Varro masks with twisted mouths, and Suetonius limbs bent by arthritis.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) Cicero cites the Stoic saying that only the wise are handsome, even if they are most misshapen.^(Georges 1913) Suetonius uses the plural noun for deformed people beside dwarfs.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ In a figurative sense it means perverse: Cicero speaks of a disposition neither warped nor depraved, and calls one way of stating a proposition the most contorted of all.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) Augustine uses it of perverse people and Cassiodorus of the twisted cunning of heretics.^(Georges 1913) In medieval Latin it could mean evasive.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of deformed people and of perverse dispositions.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 65–8 BC – Horace writes of ''distortis cruribus''.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of a distorted face.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses the plural for deformed people.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of perverse people.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|misshapen|alt=Misshapen]], [[m|en|deformed]], twisted, crooked.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(of behaviour)'' [[m|en|perverse]], warped.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # ''(of style)'' Contorted, involved.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' [[m|en|evasive]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[distorqueō]]

+ * [[torqueō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}