entry
distort
/dɪsˈtɔːrt/Twist out of shape; misrepresent
From Latin dis- (apart) + Latin torquere (to twist).
from Latin distortus , past participle of distorquere "to twist different ways, distort,"
+1 more sourcefrom Latin distortus , past participle of distorquere "to twist different ways, distort,"
from Latin distortus , past participle of distorquere "to twist different ways, distort,"
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Latin distortus , past participle of distorquere "to twist different ways, distort,"
+1 more sourcefrom Latin distortus , past participle of distorquere "to twist different ways, distort,"
from Latin distortus , past participle of distorquere "to twist different ways, distort,"
+1 more sourceBack in the 1580s, English picked up a neat little Latin contraption: dis- plus torquere, “to twist.” That second piece is a busy one; it’s the same family behind torque, torsion, torture, and even tortuous, all of them carrying the sensation of something being wrenched or bent. The early English use was figurative first — twisting the truth, not just a beam or a face — and only later, in the 1630s, did it settle into the physical sense of something bent out of shape. By 1887, engineers were borrowing the same old twisty idea for waveforms in electronics, because a bad signal, like a bad story, has gone off the rails. So next time you hear a politician, a photograph, or a guitar amp get called “distorted,” remember: the word still has a Roman thumb and forefinger gripping it and turning it hard.
The Story
Back in the 1580s, English picked up a neat little Latin contraption: dis- plus torquere, “to twist.” That second piece is a busy one; it’s the same family behind torque, torsion, torture, and even tortuous, all of them carrying the sensation of something being wrenched or bent. The early English use was figurative first — twisting the truth, not just a beam or a face — and only later, in the 1630s, did it settle into the physical sense of something bent out of shape. By 1887, engineers were borrowing the same old twisty idea for waveforms in electronics, because a bad signal, like a bad story, has gone off the rails. So next time you hear a politician, a photograph, or a guitar amp get called “distorted,” remember: the word still has a Roman thumb and forefinger gripping it and turning it hard.
Kin & Kindred
From 'dis-'·apart, in different directions, completely
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'torquere'·to twist, turn, torture
Derived Terms
English words from this root