• torch •
Pronunciation: torch • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: 1. A flame at the end of a stick used for light. 2. [British] A portable electric light, called a flashlight in the US. 3. [Slang] A professional arsonist. 4. A device that produces a very hot flame for welding.
Notes: The symbol of the Olympics is a torch with a flame on it, which will be carried from Greece to the next site via all previous sites. Lady Liberty in New York harbor is carrying a torch to symbolize enlightenment, hope, and freedom. A torch song is one of unrequited love and a torcher can be a torch song singer, a welder, or someone who fishes at night. Torchy is an Americanism referring to torch singing.
In Play: The word torch is closely associated with love: "Marian Kind is still carrying a torch for Phil Anders," meaning that she is still in love with him. Outside the US, a torch is what we in the US call a flashlight, so in Britain carrying a torch for someone may simply mean helping someone by holding their portable electric lamp.
Word History: Middle English borrowed today's Good Word from Old French torche, derived from Latin torqua, a variant of torques "torque" from Latin torquere "to twist", from PIE terkw-/torkw- "to twist". The original torches would then seem to have been made of straw or sticks tightly twisted together so as to slow their burning. The PIE word that gave us torquere came to Modern German as quer "transverse" and to English as thwart. We also find surprising evidence of torquere in the name of a flower. Nasturtiums are flowers known for their strong, rough scent. Their name seems to have come from a Latin compound based on nasus "nose" + tortare "to twist repeatedly".
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