Etymograph

English

torque

Torque comes from Latin torqueō ‘to twist’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- ‘to turn, spin’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*terkʷ-1‘to turn, spin’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*torkʷ-éye-ti1reconstructedderived within Proto-Indo-European
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*torkʷejō1reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*torkʷeō1reconstructedderived within Proto-Italic
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtorqueō2‘to twist’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1978torque2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin torqueo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English torque
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1978, James Richard Wertz, Spacecraft Attitude Determination and Control: “The relative strengths of the various torques will depend…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*terkʷ-Wiktionary, Latin torqueo‘to turn, spin’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*torkʷ-éye-tiWiktionary, Latin torqueoreconstructedderived within Proto-Indo-European
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*torkʷejōWiktionary, Latin torqueoreconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*torkʷeōWiktionary, Latin torqueoreconstructedderived within Proto-Italic
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtorqueōWiktionary, English torque‘to twist’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1978torqueWiktionary, English torque. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1978, James Richard Wertz, Spacecraft Attitude Determination and Control: “The relative strengths of the various torques will depend…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- ‘to turn, spin’

tart, queer, thwart, trowel, tortious, 18 more

through Proto-Italic *torkʷeō

retort, extort, tortuous, torturous, contortion, 15 more

through Latin torqueō ‘to twist’

torture, torch, torment, extortion, distort, tort, torsion, 20 more

Another origin of torque

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtorquēs‘chaplet, collar, necklace of twisted metal, ring, wreath’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtorquis‘chaplet’uncertain
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presenttorque
  4. Englishtodaytorque

Today it means

noun A rotational or twisting effect of a force; a moment of force, defined for measurement purposes as an equivalent straight line force multiplied by the distance from the axis of rotation (SI unit newton-metre or N·m; imperial unit pound-foot or lb·ft, not to be confused with the foot pound-force, commonly "foot-pound", a unit of work or energy)

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “torque”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin torqueo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- / torque

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