torture

记忆方法:偷窃被拷打

torture 拷问，拷打，折磨，痛苦

来自拉丁语 tortus,扭曲的，扭成一团的，词源同 turn,torment.-ure,名词后缀。引词义拷问， 折磨。

torture

torture: see torment

torture (n.)

early 15c., "contortion, twisting, distortion; a disorder characterized by contortion," from Old French torture "infliction of great pain; great pain, agony" (12c.), and directly from Late Latin tortura "a twisting, writhing," in Medieval Latin "pain inflicted by judicial or ecclesiastical authority as a means of punishment or persuasion," from stem of Latin torquere "to twist, turn, wind, wring, distort" (see torque (n.)). The meaning "infliction of severe bodily pain as a means of punishment or persuasion" in English is from 1550s. The theory behind judicial torture was that a guilty person could be made to confess, but an innocent one could not, by this means. Macaulay writes that it was last inflicted in England in May 1640.

torture (v.)

1580s, from torture (n.). Related: Tortured; torturing.

1. The friction of the sheets against his skin was torture.

被单摩擦着他的皮肤，简直像是酷刑。

2. 2,000 prisoners died as a result of torture and maltreatment.

2,000名犯人死于拷打和虐待。

3. There are consistent reports of electrical torture being practised on inmates.

一直有报道称犯人被施以电刑。

4. I believed that in civilized countries, torture had ended long ago.

我原以为在文明国家，严刑拷打早已销声匿迹。

5. The confessions were obtained by what amounts to torture.

这些供状是用近乎逼供的方式得来的。

【sorrow, agony, grief, anguish, torment, distress, misery, torture】
这组词都有“苦恼、痛苦”的意思，其区别是：
sorrow: 语气比grief弱，指因不幸、损失或失望等所产生的悲伤。
agony: 侧重指精神或身体痛苦的剧烈程度。
grief: 指由某种特殊处境或原因造成的强烈的感情上的苦恼与悲痛。
anguish: 指精神方面令人难以忍受的极度痛苦；用于身体时，多指局部或暂时的痛苦。
torment: 强调烦恼或痛苦的长期性。
distress: 多指因思想上的压力紧张、恐惧、忧虑等所引起的精神上的痛苦，也可指某种灾难带来的痛苦。
misery: 着重痛苦的可悲状态，多含不幸、可怜或悲哀的意味。
torture: 语气比toment强，指在精神或肉体上受到的折磨所产生的痛苦。