torture

B2 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˈtoɹt͡ʃɚ/ UK /ˈtɔːt͡ʃə(ɹ)/ See IPA manual

Freq #3065

Meanings

1

noun
The act of causing someone severe pain, often to punish them or force a confession.

People will confess to anything under torture.
2

verb
To deliberately cause someone severe pain or suffering.

The prisoners were tortured for information.
3

noun
Great mental or emotional suffering.

Waiting for the results was sheer torture.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the act of causing someone... torment

2 verb · to deliberately cause... afflict torment

3 noun · great mental or emotional... torment agony

More excruciate

Word family

Forms torturedtorturestorturing

Derived forms torture-meistertorture-test

Related forms agonize agony tart torment torttorta

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

judicial torture
torture authorized within a legal system to obtain evidence or a confession

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Torture entered English in the late Middle Ages and derives from Latin tortura, “twisting” or “torment,” a noun formed from torquere, “to twist.”

Etymology

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”).

*terkʷ- Proto-Indo-European torture Middle English tortūra Latin tortus Latin

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Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# torture

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈtoɹt͡ʃɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈtɔːt͡ʃə(ɹ)/
**Frequency rank:** 3065

## Meanings
1. The act of causing someone severe pain, often to punish them or force a confession.
2. To deliberately cause someone severe pain or suffering.
3. Great mental or emotional suffering.

## Examples
- People will confess to anything under torture.
- The prisoners were tortured for information.
- Waiting for the results was sheer torture.

## Synonyms
- excruciate
- torment

## Derived Forms
- torture-meister
- torture-test

## Related Forms
- agonize
- agony
- tart
- torment
- tort
- torta

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *terkʷ-
- Root: torture
- Root: tortūra
- Root: tortus

## Etymology
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”).

## AI Etymology
Torture is 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”). In present-day use, it can mean the act of causing someone severe pain, often to punish them or force a confession, or to deliberately cause someone severe pain or suffering. Derived formations include torture-meister, torture-test.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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