Deliberately inflicted severe pain on someone; can also mean to twist or contort something severely.
From Old French 'tortur,' from Latin 'tortura,' meaning twisting or wringing. The word originally referred to the physical act of twisting the body as a form of punishment.
The word 'torture' literally meant 'twisting' in Latin, and historically torture often involved actual twisting of limbs—so the word describes the method it refers to, which is a dark reminder that many cruel punishments were named after how they physically deformed the body.
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