torch

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English

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WOTD – 27 August 2024

Pronunciation

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Boys dressed as British colonial soldiers carrying torches (noun sense 1) at the Lewes Bonfire in Lewes, Sussex, England, in the United Kingdom, on Bonfire Night, 5 November 2005.
A battery-powered torch (noun sense 1.2).
The torch (noun sense 2.3), also known as the common mullein, great mullein, or torchwort (Verbascum thapsus).

Etymology 1

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The noun is derived from Middle English torch, torche (“large candle; lighted stick; (figurative) sunbeam”),[1] from Old French torche, torque (“torch; bundle of (twisted) straw”) (modern French torche); further etymology uncertain, probably from Vulgar Latin *torca (“coiled object”) (referring to a torch made from twisted plant fibres dipped in a flammable substance such as pitch), from Latin torqua, a variant of torquis (“collar of twisted metal, torque; wreath”), from torqueō (“to twist, wind”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- (“to spin; to turn”).[2]

Sense 2.3 (Verbascum thapsus) is either due to the plant’s spike of yellow flowers, or because its leaves and stalks were used to make torches (noun sense 1). Sense 3.2 (“precious cause, etc., which needs to be protected and transmitted to others”) is derived from Latin lampada trādere, from Ancient Greek λらむだᾰμみゅーπぱいᾰ́δでるたᾰ πぱいᾰρろーᾰδιδόναι (lampáda paradidónai, “to hand over the torch”), a reference to the torch race held at various festivals such as the Panathenaic Games in Ancient Greece,[2] which involved a relay where a torch was passed from one runner to another.

The verb is derived from the noun.[3]

Noun

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torch (plural torches)

  2. A stick of wood or plant fibres twisted together, with one end soaked in a flammable substance such as resin or tallow and set on fire, which is held in the hand, put into a wall bracket, or stuck into the ground, and used chiefly as a light source.
    Synonyms: brand, firebrand, flambeau
    The mob of angry villagers carried torches and pitchforks to the vampire’s castle.
    1. (by extension) A similarly shaped implement with a replaceable supply of flammable material; specifically, a pole with a lamp at one end.
      • 1984 June–July, Frances A. Harmon, “The Olympic Games—for Good and All”, in John H[arold] Johnson, editor, Ebony Jr!, volume 12, number 2, Chicago, Ill.: Johnson Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 18, column 2:
        Eleven days before the start of the [modern Olympic] Games, a flaming torch is ignited by the sun in Olympia at the ruins of the ancient Temple of Zeus. With that flame, relay runners lighted torches one from the other and carry it to the opening of the Games. Ever since 1936, the Summer Olympics has had its fire-font lit by a relay torch ignited at Olympia.
      • 2008 April 22–28, Rohit Mahajan, Ashish Kumar Sen, “Ah, the Human Race”, in Vinod Mehta, editor, Outlook: The Weekly Newsmagazine, New Delhi: Maheshwer Peri on behalf of Outlook Publishing, →OCLC, page 48:
        The degradation of the [Olympic] torch worldwide—it had to be snuffed out more than once to protect it from protesters—even provoked angry Chinese students to mobilise "150 strong and energetic runners" to defend it in Australia, raising the spectre of violence.
      • 2024 August 18 (last accessed), “Paris 2024 Paralympic Torch: A Symbol of Equality, Water, and Peacefulness”, in Paralympic.org‎[1], Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia: International Paralympic Committee, archived from the original on 2024-08-18:
        The Paris 2024 Paralympic Torch, characterised by its sparkling champaign[sic – meaning champagne] colour and unique design, represents the spirit of the Games. […] With its gentle curves, the torch represents a sense of peace and solidarity. It stands as a symbol of the Paralympic Games' mission to promote harmony and unity.
    3. (by extension, Commonwealth) In full electric torch: synonym of flashlight (“a battery-powered hand-held light source”)
      Synonym: (India, Malaysia, Nigeria, Singapore) torchlight
      Ernst slipped and dropped his torch on the flagstones, shattering the bulb and plunging us into darkness.
      • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, “‘Who could have Foreseen it?’”, in The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC, page 140:
        We were too excited to return to the camp, but must make our first exploration at once. Lord John had an electric torch in his knapsack, and this had to serve us as light.
      • 1974 October 2, Peter Stone, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, spoken by Blue (Robert Shaw), Culver City, Calif.: United Artists, →OCLC:
        I want you to send two unarmed policemen into the tunnel, carrying the money, and waving a torch in front of them.
      • 1988, Nicholas Joseph Tailey, Simon O’Connor, “The Nervous System”, in Clinical Examination: A Guide to Physical Diagnosis, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Blackwell Scientific Publications, published 1989, →ISBN, page 352:
        [L]ook at the pupils [of the eyes], noting the shape, relative sizes and any associated ptosis. Use a pocket torch and shine the light from the side to gauge the reaction of the pupils to light.
      • 1999, Natalie Kruger, “Queensland & the Great Barrier Reef”, in Natalie Kruger, Marc Llewellyn, edited by Suzanne Roe Jannetta, Frommer’s 99: Australia, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan Travel, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 398:
        If you can be bothered to carry them, it is a good idea to bring a torch (flashlight) and maybe binoculars for wildlife spotting.
      • 1999 August, Margo Daly, Anne Dehne, David Leffman, Chris Scott [et al.], “New South Wales and ACT”, in Kieran Falconer, Harriet Sharkey, editors, Australia: The Rough Guide, 4th edition, London: Rough Guides, →ISBN, part 2 (The Guide), page 289:
        The island has only one road and relatively few cars. There are no streetlights so you'll need to bring a torch with you, or buy one from Joy's Shop, if you want to venture out at night.
  3. (by extension, botany)
    1. A flower which is red or red-orange in colour like a flame.
    2. A spike (“kind of inflorescence”) made up of spikelets.
      • 1578, Rembert Dodoens, “Of Plantayne or Waybrede”, in Henry Lyte, transl., A Niewe Herball, or Historie of Plantes: […], London: […] [Henry [i.e., Hendrik van der] Loë for] Gerard Dewes, […], →OCLC, 1st part (Sundry Sortes of Herbes and Plantes), page 91:
        Of this kinde, there is founde an other, the Spikes, eares, or torches wherof, are very dubble, ſo as in euery Spyky eare, in ſteede of the little knappes or heades, it bringeth forth a number of other ſmal torches, wherof eche one is lyke to the ſpike or torch of great Plantayne.
    4. (chiefly in the plural) The common mullein, great mullein, or torchwort (Verbascum thapsus).
      • 1578, Rembert Dodoens, “Of Mulleyne⸝ or Hygtaper”, in Henry Lyte, transl., A Niewe Herball, or Historie of Plantes: […], London: […] [Henry [i.e., Hendrik van der] Loë for] Gerard Dewes, […], →OCLC, 1st part (Sundry Sortes of Herbes and Plantes), pages 118–120:
        [page 118] The white male Mulleyn (or rather Wolleyn) hath […] the whole top with his pleaſant yellow floures ſheweth like to a waxe Candell or taper cunningly wrought. […] [pages 119–120] Mulleyn is called […] in English alſo Tapſus barbatus, Mulleyne, or rather Wulleyn, Hig[h]taper, Torches, and Longworte: […]
    5. (obsolete) A cactus with a very elongated body; a ceroid cactus; a torch cactus or torch-thistle.
      • 1597, John Gerarde [i.e., John Gerard], “Of the Gummie Thistle Called Euphorbium”, in The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. […], London: […] Edm[und] Bollifant, for Bonham and Iohn Norton, →OCLC, book II, page 1015:
        Cereus Peruuianus ſpinoſus L'Obelij. The torch, or thornie Euphorbium. […] [T]his plant, vvhich is called of the Indians in their mother toong Vragua, vvhich is as much to ſay, a torch, taper, or vvaxe candle, vvhereupon it hath been called in Latine of thoſe that vnderſtoode the Indian toong, Cereus, or a torch […] riſeth vp to the height of a ſpeare of 20. foote long, […]
  4. (figurative)
    1. A source of enlightenment or guidance.
      • 1775 January 17 (first performance), [Richard Brinsley Sheridan], “Epilogue. By the Author. Spoken by Mrs. [Mary] Bulkley.”, in The Rivals, a Comedy. […], London: […] John Wilkie, […], published 1775, →OCLC, page 19:
        [T]he Scholars of our eyes, / Our Beaux from Gallantry vvould ſoon be vviſe; / VVould gladly light, their homage to improve, / The Lamp of Knovvledge at the Torch of Love!
    3. In carry, hand on, or pass on the torch: a precious cause, principle, tradition, etc., which needs to be protected and transmitted to others.
  5. (science fiction) Short for torch drive (“a spacecraft engine which produces thrust by nuclear fusion”).
  6. (chiefly Canada, US) Short for blowtorch (“a tool which projects a controlled stream of a highly flammable gas over a spark in order to produce a controlled flame”).
  7. (US, slang) An arsonist.
    • 1978 September 13, Leonard Mikeska, witness, “Testimony of Leonard Mikeska, Chief Arson Investigator, Houston Fire Department, Houston, Tex.”, in Arson-for-hire: Hearings before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, Ninety-fifth Congress, Second Session […], Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 172:
      Some years ago, another Houston torch attached a kitchen match to the bell striker on an ordinary telephone so that it would vibrate when the phone rang. He placed a piece of sandpaper close enough to the match so that when the bell rang, the match rubbed the surface of the sandpaper and started a fire. The torch, after setting up the device, drove to a town many miles from his home and then dialed his home number, successfully starting a fire in his own home.
    • 1984 March, Herbert F. Weisberg, Judith D. Feins, Jan Schreiber, “The Investigative Process: Getting Cases to Prosecution”, in Arson Investigation and Prosecution: A Study of Four Major American Cities (National Institute of Justice Research Report), Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice, →OCLC, page 137:
      Upon the advice of the prosecutor, who was already at the arson unit's office, the torches were not arrested, but "detained" and offered the opportunity to cooperate with the investigators in their efforts to implicate the landlord. […] As one torch had had most contact with their employer, investigators decided that he should make a call to the landlord on a tapped telephone and try and discuss the planned fire with him. The landlord was reluctant to say anything over the phone and suggested that he and the torch should meet.
    • 1997, David R. Redsicker, John J. O’Connor, “Surveillance”, in Practical Fire and Arson Investigation, 2nd edition, Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, →ISBN, page 358:
      A registered confidential informant may provide information, either that a particular building has been targeted to burn or that an identified "torch" has been contracted to burn some unknown building. In the first instance, fixed surveillance at the building should be started immediately to try to catch the torch before the act.
Hyponyms
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types of torches
Derived terms
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Translations
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synonym of flashlight — see flashlight
spike made up of spikelets — see spike
Verbascum thapsus — see common mullein
short for torch drive — see torch drive
short for blowtorch — see blowtorch
arsonist — see arsonist
See also
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Verb

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torch (third-person singular simple present torches, present participle torching, simple past and past participle torched)

  1. (transitive)
    1. To illuminate or provide (a place) with torches (noun sense 1).
    2. (originally and chiefly, US, slang) To set fire to (something), especially by use of a torch; specifically, to intentionally destroy (something) by setting on fire to try and claim compensation on a fire insurance.
      Synonyms: burn, ignite, inflame, set ablaze
      Hyponym: firebomb
      Some hoodlums had torched a derelict automobile, which emitted a ghastly pall of thick, black smoke that filled the street.
    3. (figurative) To make damaging claims about (someone or something); to ruin the reputation of (someone or something); to disparage, to insult.
      Synonyms: burn, malign
      That influencer torched the company’s PR department.
  2. (intransitive)
    1. Of a fire: to burn.
      The flames torched up twenty feet in the air.
    2. (science fiction) To travel in a spacecraft propelled by a torch drive (“an engine which produces thrust by nuclear fusion”).
    3. (UK, dialectal, figurative) To (appear to) flare up like a torch.
    4. (US, fishing) To catch fish or other aquatic animals by torchlight; to go torch-fishing.
Derived terms
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Translations
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to make damaging claims about (someone or something) — see disparage,‎ insult

Etymology 2

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Borrowed from French torcher (“to daub; to wipe; to build or plaster with clay mixed with chopped straw”), from torche (“bundle of (twisted) straw; torch”) (see further at etymology 1)[4] + -er (suffix forming the infinitives of first-conjugation verbs).

Verb

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torch (third-person singular simple present torches, present participle torching, simple past and past participle torched)

  1. (transitive, masonry, archaic or historical) To point (“fill up and bring to a smooth finish”) (inside joints of slates laid on laths) using lime hair mortar.
Translations
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References

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  1. ^ “torch(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Compare “torch, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2024; “torch, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ “torch, v.1”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “torch, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  4. ^ “torch, v.2”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Middle English

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Noun

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torch

  1. Alternative form of torche

Welsh

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Etymology

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From Middle Welsh torch, from Proto-Brythonic *torx, from Latin torquis.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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torch f (plural torchau)

  1. torque (tightly braided collar)
  2. coil, ring, wreath

Derived terms

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Mutation

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Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
torch dorch nhorch thorch
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

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  • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “torch”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
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