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In this Adventure in Etymology we uncover the burning roots of the word torrent.
Torrent [ˈtɒɹənt / ˈtoɹənt] as a noun can mean a violent flow (as of water, lava, etc), a stream suddenly raised and running rapidly, or a large amount or stream of something.
As an adjective, torrent means rolling or rushing in a rapid stream, and as a verb it means to fall or flow in a torrent or to pour.
It comes from French torrent (a torrent), from Italian torrente (stream, creek, torrent), from Latin torrentem, from torrēns (scorching, burning, roasting), from torreō (to scorch, burn, parch, roast), from Proto-Italic *torzeō (to burn, scorch), from PIE *torséyeti (to make dry), from *ters- (dry) [source].
Words from the same roots include tir (land) in Welsh (and Cornish and Breton), tierra (earth, land, ground, soil) in Spanish, torr (dry, matter-of-fact, dull) in Swedish, turska (cod) in Finnish, and terrace, terrain, territory, thirst, toast, torrid in English [source].
The terrier dog also gets its name from the same roots via Old French chien terrier (terrier dog) from chien (dog) and terrier (of earth), from Latin terra (dry land, ground, earth), ultimately from PIE *ters- (dry)[source].
The Mediterranean also gets part of its name from the same roots. It comes from Latin mediterrāneus (inland), from medius (middle), terra (earth, land) and -āneus (adjectival suffix) source].
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I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur blog.
