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Origin and history of torment

torment(n.)

c. 1300, "the systematic inflicting of torture," also "state of great suffering; agony, anguish," physical or mental, also "a cause of physical or mental suffering;" from Old French torment "torture, pain, anguish, suffering distress" (11c., Modern French tourment), from Latin tormentum "twisted cord, sling; clothes-press; instrument for hurling stones," also "instrument of torture, a rack," figuratively "anguish, pain, torment," from torquere "to twist" (from PIE root *terkw- "to twist"). The Latin instrument of war sense also was in Middle English.

torment(v.)

c. 1300, tormenten, "inflict torture on, put to torture, distress, vex with great misery, annoy," from Old French tormenter "torture, torment, oppress, agitate" (12c.), from Medieval Latin tormentare "to torment, to twist," from Latin tormentum "twisted cord, sling; clothes-press; instrument for hurling stones," also "instrument of torture, a rack," figuratively "anguish, pain, torment," from torquere "to twist" (from PIE root *terkw- "to twist").

Also from mid-14c. as "cause (a people, church, etc.) to suffer, oppress." Related: Tormented; tormenting; tormentingly.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to torment

tormentor(n.)

c. 1300, tormentour, "judicial torturer, official charged with executing cruel punishments," also "anyone who causes physical pain or mental distress;" from Anglo-French tormentour, Old French tormenteor "torturer," agent noun from tormenter "to torture" (see torment (v.)). Related: Tormentress (early 15c., often of Fate).

torture(n.)

early 15c., in medicine (Chauliac), "contortion, twisting, distortion; a disorder characterized by contortion," from Old French torture "infliction of great pain; great pain, agony" (12c.) and directly from Late Latin tortura "a twisting, writhing," in Medieval Latin "pain inflicted by judicial or ecclesiastical authority as a means of punishment or persuasion," also "a colic." This is from the stem of Latin torquere "to twist, turn, wind, wring, distort" (from PIE root *terkw- "to twist").

In English the meaning "infliction of severe bodily pain as a means of punishment or persuasion" is attested from 1550s. The theory behind judicial torture was that an innocent person could not be made to confess by this means, but a guilty person could.

Compare torment (n.). Older words for the deliberate, systematic infliction of physical pain (as punishment or in cruelty) included tormenterie (late 14c.), tormenting (n.) (c. 1300).

*terkw-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to twist."

It might form all or part of: contort; distort; extort; extortion; nasturtium; queer; retort; thwart; torch; torment; torque (n.) "rotating force;" torsion; tort; torticollis; tortuous; torture; truss.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit tarkuh "spindle;" Latin torquere "to twist;" Old Church Slavonic traku "band, girdle;" Old High German drahsil "turner," German drechseln "to turn on a lathe;" Old Norse þvert "across," Old English þweorh "transverse, perverse, angry, cross," Gothic þwairhs "angry."

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    excruciate
    "to torture, torment, inflict very severe pain on," as if by crucifying, 1560s, from Latin excruciatus, past participle of excruciare "to torture, torment, rack, plague;" figuratively "to afflict, harass, vex, torment," from ex "out, out from; thoroughly" (see ex-) + cruciare "ca
    rack
    c. 1300, "grating or open frame with bars or pegs upon which things are hung or placed," especially for kitchen use, possibly from Middle Dutch rec "framework," literally "something stretched out, related to recken (modern rekken) "stretch out," cognate with Old English reccan "t
    rag
    "torn or worn scrap of cloth," early 14c., probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse rögg "shaggy tuft, rough hair," earlier raggw-; Old Danish rag; see rug), or else a back-formation from ragged. It also may represent an unrecorded Old English cognate of Old Norse r
    quell
    also of Old English cwelan "to die," cwalu "violent death;" Old Saxon quellian "to torture, kill;" Old Norse kvelja "to torment...;" Middle Dutch quelen "to vex, tease, torment;" Old High German quellan "to suffer pain," German quälen "to torment, torture...
    pine
    Middle English pinen "cause to starve" (c. 1300), from Old English pinian "to torture, torment, afflict, cause to suffer,...," the main modern meaning, is recorded from early 14c., via the Middle English intransitive senses of "endure penance, torment...
    anxious
    uneasy, troubled in mind" (also "causing anxiety, troublesome"), from angere, anguere "to choke, squeeze," figuratively "to torment...
    molest
    late 14c., molesten, "to cause trouble, grief, or vexation, disturb, harass," from Old French molester "to torment, trouble...
    harry
    Old English hergian "make war, lay waste, ravage, plunder," the word used in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for what the Vikings did to England, from Proto-Germanic *harjon (source also of Old Frisian urheria "lay waste, ravage, plunder," Old Norse herja "to make a raid, to plunder,"
    demand
    late 14c., demaunden, "ask questions, make inquiry," from Old French demander (12c.) "to request; to demand," from Latin demandare "entrust, charge with a commission" (in Medieval Latin, "to ask, request, demand"), from de- "completely" (see de-) + mandare "to order" (see mandate
    crucify
    mid-14c., "to put to death by nailing or otherwise affixing to a cross," from Old French crucifer crucefiier (12c., Modern French crucifier), from Vulgar Latin *crucificare, from Late Latin crucifigere "to fasten to a cross," from cruci, dative of Latin crux "cross" (see crux) +

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