retort

C2+ Topic:Communication

US /rɪˈtɔrt/ UK /rɪˈtɔːt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a sharp or witty reply; to answer back sharply

"Mind your own business," was her only retort.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a sharp or witty reply; to... riposte rejoindercomebackretaliation reply rebuttal quip

Word family

Related forms retortiondistort contort torturetorsion

Simplified etymology

Retort entered English in the late Middle Ages and comes from Latin torquere, “to twist,” with the sense “twist back.” The chemical apparatus was named for its twisted shape.

Etymology

From Latin retortus, past participle of retorquere ('to twist back, hurl back'), from re- ('back') + torquere ('to twist').

retorquere Latin torquere Latin *terkw- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Communication

External links

# retort

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /rɪˈtɔrt/
**IPA (UK):** /rɪˈtɔːt/

## Meanings
1. a sharp or witty reply; to answer back sharply

## Examples
- "Mind your own business," was her only retort.

## Synonyms
- riposte
- rejoinder
- comeback
- retaliation
- reply
- rebuttal
- quip

## Related Forms
- retortion
- distort
- contort
- torture
- torsion

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: retorquere
- Root: torquere
- Root: *terkw-

## Etymology
From Latin retortus, past participle of retorquere ('to twist back, hurl back'), from re- ('back') + torquere ('to twist').

## AI Etymology
Retort comes from Latin retortus, past participle of retorquere ('to twist back, hurl back'), from re- ('back') + torquere ('to twist'). The historical chain includes Latin retorquere, Latin torquere, and Proto-Indo-European *terkw-. Older glosses in the chain include "to twist back, hurl back", "back", and "to twist", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, retort is best read as compound and borrowing, yielding an English noun and verb shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun and verb, with the sense "a sharp or witty reply; to answer back sharply". related forms include retortion, distort, contort, and torture. The result is an English noun and verb whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Communication

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