torture

The story

1. Latin · derived fromtortus
2. Late Latin · derived fromtortūra“a twisting, writhing, of bodily pain, a griping colic;” in Medieval Latin “pain inflicted by judicial or ecclesiastical authority as a means of persuasion, torture”
3. Old French · derived fromtorture
4. Middle English · inherited fromtorture
5. English todaytorture

From Middle English torture, from Old French torture, from Late Latin tortūra (“a twisting, writhing, of bodily pain, a griping colic;” in Medieval Latin “pain inflicted by judicial or ecclesiastical authority as a means of persuasion, torture”), from Latin tortus (whence also tort), past participle of torquēre (“to twist”).

Words from the same roots