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Line drawing of tordi
Coloured illustration of tordi
#2286 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

to twist, to wring

Word origin

From Latin torquere, to twist, through its past participle tortus. The root is one of the most productive in European languages: torque, torture, torment, contort, distort, retort and tortoise all come off it, the last because the animal's feet were seen as twisted.

Origin
Latin
Root
tortus
English cognates
torque, contort, torture, retort

Grammar

Verb typeregular (Esperanto has no irregular verbs)

Irregular verb. A full conjugation table for irregular verbs is coming soon. For now, use a reference like Wordreference or RAE.

Examples

.

He twisted the rope around his hand.

.

She twisted the paper between her fingers.

.

The wind twisted the branches of the tree.

No -- suffix, and no suffix of any kind. The word is tord- plus the infinitive -i, full stop. Esperanto has no --, and the run of borrowed words that end that way - , , , - share nothing but a Latin accident. What makes this seam tempting is that is a real Esperanto root meaning order, and t- looks like nothing much, so the eye offers you a parse. Refuse it. One root.

Transitive, so watch the --. takes an object: you twist something. The thing that twists by itself is i. against is, and if you get that pair right you have the whole igi/iĝi system in miniature. The same applies to an ankle: is how the sprain is normally said.

Against turni. is rotation about an axis - a key, a head, a wheel. is deformation: you are changing the shape of the thing, wringing it, wrenching it out of true. A cloth full of water is , not . Figuratively does the same work English gives to twisting the facts, and of a face is contorted.

Where this fits

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Esperanto · Free printables

tordi: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Esperanto word "tordi" (to twist, to wring): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is part of lesson 46.