"T" Word Origins

topple

Origin

From "top" plus "-le", a suffix that historically formed repeated or gradual actions — the sense of something tipping over bit by bit from being top-heavy.

tops

Origin

Likely top + -s (diminutive).

topside

Origin

A compound of "top" and "side".

topsoil

Origin

A compound of "top" and "soil".

Topsy

Origin · 1852

From Topsy, a character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, who famously says she "just growed" rather than being deliberately raised or made.

toque

Origin

From Middle French toque (“toque”), from Arabic طَاقِيَّة (ṭāqiyya).

tor

Latin

From Old English torr ("high rock, tower"), ultimately traced back to Latin turris ("tower").

tora

Origin

From Amharic ቶራ (tora).

Torah

Hebrew

From Hebrew tōrā, meaning "instruction," "teaching," or "law."

torat

Origin

From Middle English toratten, from to- + ratten (“to lacerate, tear”), equivalent to to- + rat. Related to Middle High German ratzen (“to lacerate, tear”).

torch

Latin

From Old French torche, probably from a Latin word for a twisted bundle of straw or fibre soaked in pitch and set alight.

torchwood

Origin

A straightforward compound of "torch" and "wood," describing wood suited to making torches.

tore

Middle English

From Middle English tor, tore, toor, from Old Norse tor- (“hard, difficult, wrong, bad”, prefix), from Proto-Germanic *tuz- (“hard, difficult, wrong, bad”), from Proto-Indo-European *dus- (“bad, ill, difficult”). Cognate with Old High German zur- (“mis-”, prefix), Gothic 𐍄𐌿𐌶- (tuz-, “hard, difficult”, prefix), Ancient Greek δυσ- (dus-, “bad, ill, difficult”, prefix). More at dys-.

toreador

Origin

From Spanish toreador, from torear (“to fight bulls”), from toro (“bull”), from Latin taurus.

tori

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese, from a verb meaning "to take" or "to pick up" — the one who takes the initiative in the exercise.

Tories

Origin · 1600

The plural of "Tory," a term originally used in 17th-century Britain for supporters of the king's authority, later adopted by the Conservative Party.

torment

Latin

From Old French torment, from Latin tormentum ("an instrument of torture" or "something twisted"), from torquere, "to twist".

tormentor

Old French

From Anglo-Norman tourmentour, going back to Old French tormenteor — the same root as "torment."

tormentous

Origin

From torment + -ous.

tormentrix

Origin

From tormentor + -trix.

tornado

Latin · 1550

Traced back to 1550s nautical English "ternado," itself from Spanish tronada ("thunderstorm"), from tronar ("to thunder"), ultimately from Latin tonare. The letters got swapped around (a process called metathesis) under the influence of the similar Spanish word tornar, "to turn."

toro

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese, where 灯籠 (tōrō) names the traditional lantern.

Toronto

Origin

From Mohawk tkaronto (“where trees stand in water”), originally referring to the strait between Lake Simcoe and Lake Couchiching. Compare karón꞉ta (“tree”) from Proto-North Iroquoian *-ɹõt-.

torpedinous

Origin

Borrowed from Latin torpēdinōsus, from torpēdō + -ōsus.

torpedo

Latin · 1805

From Latin torpedo, originally the name of the electric ray (a fish that delivers a stunning shock) and related to torpere, "to be numb or sluggish." The military sense — a self-propelled underwater weapon — was coined by the inventor Robert Fulton in 1805.

torpor

Origin

From Latin torpor (“numbness”), from torpeō (“to be numb”).

Torquay

Origin

From tor + quay.

torque

Latin

Borrowed from Latin torquere, "to twist."

torrent

Latin

From French torrent, from Italian torrente, from Latin torrens ("burning, seething, roaring"), from torrere, "to scorch."

torrential

Origin

Formed from torrent plus the adjective ending -ial.

Torres

Latin

From Romance Torres (Portuguese Torres and Spanish Torres); from torres ("towers"; Portuguese torres and Spanish torres); indicating someone who lived in or near a tower. From Latin turris.

torso

Ancient Greek

From Italian torso, tracing back through Late Latin to Latin thyrsus and ultimately Ancient Greek thyrsos ("a ceremonial staff").

tort

Latin

From Old French tort, "wrong," ultimately from Latin tortus, "twisted" — the same root gives us "torture" and "distort."

torta

Origin

Borrowed from Spanish torta, from Latin turta, thought to derive from Latin tŏrta f (“twisted”). Doublet of torte and tart.

torte

Origin

Borrowed from German Torte. Cognate to tart. Doublet of torta.

tortellini

Italian

From Italian, the plural of tortellino, a "little twist" of pasta.

tortfeasance

Origin

From Anglo-Norman tortfesance, from Old French tort (“a misdeed, a wrong”) + fesance (“act, action, deed”).

tortfeasor

Origin

From Anglo-Norman tortfeasor, from Old French tortfesor, tort-faiseur, torfesor, torzfesor (“wrongdoer”), from tort (“a misdeed, a wrong”) + fesor, faiseur (“doer”).

tortilla

Spanish

Borrowed directly from Spanish, where it originally meant "little cake."

tortious

Origin

Inherited from Middle English torcious, from Anglo-Norman torcious. By surface analysis, tort + -ious.

tortoise

Medieval Latin

From Middle English tortuse, from Medieval Latin tortuca, of uncertain deeper origin; the modern spelling was likely shaped by the similar word "porpoise."

torture

Late Latin

From Old French torture, from Late Latin tortura ("a twisting, writhing"), from Latin tortus, past participle of torquere, "to twist."

torturer

Origin

Formed from torture plus the agent suffix -er.

torturous

Latin

From Middle English torterous, ultimately traced to Latin tortura, "torture."

torus

Origin

Borrowed from Latin torus (“a round, swelling, elevation, protuberance”).

Tory

Irish · 1680

From Irish tóraí, "pursuer" or "outlaw," originally used as an insult for Irish bandits before becoming, from the 1680s, the name of the British political faction that evolved into the Conservative Party.

tosa

Japanese

Named after the former Tosa province on the Japanese island of Shikoku, where the breed originated.

tosh

Origin · 1800

From 19th-century British thieves' slang (cant), of uncertain origin — possibly a twist on "trash" or related to "toss."