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Indo-European Lexicon

PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes

Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.

Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.

All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.

Note: this page is for systems/browsers lacking Unicode^® support, or having less than full Unicode 2.0 font support. Versions of this page rendered in alternate character sets are available via links (see Unicode 3 and Unicode 2) in the left margin.

Pokorny Etymon: terk-, trek-, tork-, trok- 'to torque, turn'

Semantic Field: to Turn

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language	Reflex(es)	PoS/Gram.	Gloss	Source(s)
English
Old English:	þwe(o)rh/þwyrh	adj	cross, angry; crooked, perverse	ASD
	þweorian/þwyrian	vb	to thwart, be adverse	ASD
Middle English:	thwert	adv/prep	thwart	W7
	thwerten	vb	to thwart	CDC
	torche	n	torch	W7
	torment	n	torment	W7
	tort	n	tort	W7
	tortuous	adj	tortuous	W7
	trussen	vb	to truss	W7
English:	athwart	adv/prep	crosswise, transversely, from side to side; across	AHD
	contort	vb	to twist in violent manner	AHD/W7
	distort	vb.trans	to twist out of true meaning/proportion	AHD/W7
	extort	vb.trans	to wring, obtain by force/undue power/ingenuity	AHD/W7
	nasturtium	n	herb having showy spurred flowers	AHD/W7
	queer	adj	odd, strange, deviating from normal/expected	AHD
	retort	vb	to return, pay back	AHD/W7
	thwart	adv/prep	athwart; (obliquely) across/transverse	AHD/W7
	thwart	vb	to cross, oppose, frustrate	CDC
	torch	n	flambeau, resinous wood/twist of tow burnt to give light	AHD/W7
	torment	n	torture (inflicted e.g. by rack/wheel)	AHD/W7
	torque	n	force producing torsion/rotation	AHD/W7
	torque	n	metal collar/neck-chain worn by ancient Celts/Germans	AHD/W7
	torque	vb.trans	to turn, twist, rotate	LRC
	torsade	n	twisted cord/ribbon used as hat ornament	AHD/W7
	torsion	n	twisting/wrenching by exertion of force	AHD/W7
	tort	n	wrongful act for which civil action is admissible	AHD/W7
	tortuous	adj	winding, marked by repeated bends/twists/turns	AHD/W7
	torture	n	infliction of intense pain	AHD/W7
	truss	vb.trans	to bind, secure tightly	AHD/W7
W-Germanic
Middle Low German:	dwer	adj	queer, oblique	AHD
Old High German:	drahsil	n	turner	W7
	dwerah	adj	athwart, oblique, transverse	W7
German:	Drechsler	n.masc	turner	LRC
N-Germanic
Old Norse:	þverr	adj	athwart, oblique, transverse	W7
Icelandic:	þverr	adj	cross; transverse	ASD
E-Germanic
Gothic:	þwairhs	adj	cross, angry	ASD
Italic
Latin:	contorqueo, contorquere	vb	to turn, twist, contort	W7
	contortus	vb.ptc	contorted	W7
	distorqueo, distorquere	vb	to twist awry, distort	W7
	distortus	vb.ptc	distorted	W7
	extorqueo, extorquere	vb	to wrench out, extort	W7
	extortus	vb.ptc	extorted	W7
	nasturtium	n.neut	nasturtium	W7
	retorqueo, retorquere	vb	to twist/throw back	W7
	retortus	vb.ptc	thrown back	W7
	tormentum	n.neut	torment	W7
	torqueo, torquere	vb	to turn, twist, torque	W7
	torques	n.masc	torque	W7
	tortuosus	adj	twisted, tortuous	W7
	tortus	adj.ptc	torqued, twisted	W7
Vulgar Latin:	torca	n.fem	torch	W7
Late Latin:	torsus	vb.ptc	twisted	W7
	tortura	n.fem	torture	W7
Old French:	torche	n.fem	torch	W7
	torment	n.masc	pain, worry, torment	W7
	trousser	vb	to take up	W7
Middle French:	tort	n.masc	fault	W7
	tortueux	adj	tortuous	W7
French:	torque	n.masc	torque: Celtic necklace	W7
	tors	adj	twisted	W7
	torsade	n.fem	torsade, braiding by twisting	W7
	torture	n.fem	torture	W7
Hellenic
Greek:	átraktos	n.masc	spindle; arrow	LRC

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev.		Meaning
adj	=	adjective
adv	=	adverb(ial)
fem	=	feminine (gender)
masc	=	masculine (gender)
n	=	noun
neut	=	neuter (gender)
prep	=	preposition
ptc	=	participle
trans	=	transitive
vb	=	verb

Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):

Code		Citation
AHD	=	Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000)
ASD	=	Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898)
CDC	=	W.D. Whitney and B.E. Smith: The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889-1911)
LRC	=	Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
W7	=	Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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