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Origin and history of torrent

torrent(n.)

c. 1600, "swift, violent stream of water," from French torrent (16c.) and directly from Latin torrentem (nominative torrens) "rushing, roaring" (of streams), also "a rushing stream;" noun use of an adjective, "roaring, boiling," originally "burning, parching, hot, inflamed," present participle of torrere "to parch" (from PIE root *ters- "to dry").

The ancient sense extension of a "parched" word to flooding streams probably is via the image of boiling water, "not, as some explain it, literally a stream of water that 'dries up' in the heat of summer" [Century Dictionary].

The extension of torrent to any violent onrush or overwhelming flow (of words, feelings, etc.) is attested by 1640s. Torenes (plural) "small streams" is in English in late 14c. 

also from c. 1600

Entries linking to torrent

torrential(adj.)

"pertaining to or resembling a torrent," 1849; see torrent (n.) + -ial. Perhaps by influence of French torrentiel, Spanish torrencial, or English tangential. Related: Torrentially. Blount (17c.) has torrentine as an adjective; Thackeray in 19c. uses torrentuous.

*ters-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to dry."

It might form all or part of: inter; Mediterranean; metatarsal; parterre; subterranean; tarsal; tarsus; Tartuffe; terra; terrace; terra-cotta; terrain; terran; terraqueous; terrarium; terrene; terrestrial; terrier; territory; thirst; toast; torrent; torrid; turmeric; tureen.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit tarsayati "dries up;" Avestan tarshu- "dry, solid;" Greek teresesthai "to become or be dry," tersainein "to make dry;" Latin torrere "dry up, parch," terra "earth, land;" Gothic þaursus "dry, barren," Old High German thurri, German dürr, Old English þyrre "dry;" Old English þurstig "thirsty."

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    Trends of torrent

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    flood
    Old English flōd "a flowing of water, tide, an overflowing of land by water, a deluge, Noah's Flood; mass of water, river, sea, wave," from Proto-Germanic *floduz "flowing water, deluge" (source also of Old Frisian flod, Old Norse floð, Middle Dutch vloet, Dutch vloed, German Flu
    deluge
    late 14c., "an overflowing of water, a great flood, Noah's Flood in Genesis," from Old French deluge (12c.), earlier deluve, from Latin diluvium "flood, inundation," from diluere "wash away," from dis- "away" (see dis-) + -luere, combining form of lavere "to wash" (from PIE root
    ravine
    1760, "long deep gorge worn by a stream or torrent of water," from French ravin "a gully" (1680s, from Old French raviner..."to pillage; to sweep down, cascade"), and from French ravine "violent rush of water, gully worn by a torrent" (from Old...
    lava
    "molten rock issuing from a volcano," 1750, from Italian (Neapolitan or Calabrian dialect) lava "torrent, stream," traditionally...
    plenty
    mid-13c., "abundance; as much as one could desire; an ample supply," from Old French plentee, earlier plentet "abundance, profusion" (12c., Modern French dialectal plenté), from Latin plenitatem (nominative plenitas) "fullness," from plenus "full, filled, greatly crowded; stout,
    mass
    late 14c., "irregular shaped lump; body of unshaped, coherent matter," from Old French masse "lump, heap, pile; crowd, large amount; ingot, bar" (11c.), and directly from Latin massa "kneaded dough, lump, that which adheres together like dough," probably from Greek maza "barley c
    pile
    early 15c., "heap or stack of something," usually consisting of an indefinite number of separate objects arranged in a more or less regular conical or pyramidal form, from Old French pile "a heap, a stack," and directly from Latin pila "a pillar," also "stone barrier, pier" (see
    mint
    aromatic herb, plant of the genus Mentha, Old English minte (8c.), from West Germanic *minta (source also of Old Saxon minta, Middle Dutch mente, Old High German minza, German Minze), a borrowing from Latin menta, mentha "mint," itself from Greek minthē, personified as a nymph tr
    sight
    Middle English sight, from Old English sihð, gesiht, gesihð "thing seen; power or faculty of sight; aspect; vision; apparition," from Proto-Germanic *sekh(w)- (source also of Danish sigte, Swedish sigt, Middle Dutch sicht, Dutch zicht, Old High German siht, German Sicht, Gesicht)

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    Dictionary entries near torrent
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