contortionist
/kənˈtɔːʃənəst/kuhn-TAWR-shuh-nuhst
/kənˈtɔɹʃənəst/kuhn-TAWR-shuh-nuhst
Meaningone who twists the body
Common meaning: an acrobat who twists into strange poses
- conwith, together; thoroughly
- tortto twist, wringLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1879 · scan
- ionnoun ending: act or result
- ista person who does or follows
‘with, together’ + ‘to twist, wring’ → contortionist
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Latin torqueō ‘to twist, wring’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry torqueō, p. 1879 · dictionary scan
Roots
- torqueō, torsī, tortum Latin “to twist, wring”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app