English → Latin
“contort” in Latin
contorqueōto turn, twist, swing or whirl (together); contort; to brandish, wield; to turn, influence, swaydistorqueōto turn different ways, twist, distort, warp; to torment, torturedēprāvōto pervert, distort or disfigure; to seduce, corrupt or depraveglobusany round object; a sphere; a globe; a glob, groupamnistorrent (any broad, deep flowing, rapid water); stream; river; ocean; liquid; current; the flow of well-written textoculuseye; sight, vision; luminary of the sun and starslabrumlip; edge, margin, brim, lipvultusa facial expression, look, countenance; the front of the head, face; the face as involved in looking; the view, gazecrūsleg
The English word contort itself goes back to Latin torqueō, through contortus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
contort
contorquere (used especially of whirling round, hurling, etc., weapons; but also of other bodies: globum, tantum corpus, currura, amnem): distorquere: depravare (distort, twist in an unnatural, unpleasing manner; with os, oculos, labra, etc.). Contorted, contortus. (the words are found in this connection and order), contortus et deflexus: distortus (e.g., vultus: crura): depravatus (oculi, crura).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for contort?
- The usual Latin words for “contort” are contorqueō, distorqueō, dēprāvō; also globus, amnis, oculus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.