English word origin

Etymology of tore

3 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 3 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗

adj

Hard, difficult; wearisome, tedious. · Strong, sturdy; great, massive. · Full; rich.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English tor, tore, toor, from Old Norse tor- (“hard, difficult, wrong, bad”, prefix), from Proto-Germanic *tuz- (“hard, difficult, wrong, bad”), from Proto-Indo-European *dus- (“bad, ill, difficult”). Cognate with Old High German zur- (“mis-”, prefix), Gothic 𐍄𐌿𐌶- (tuz-, “hard, difficult”, prefix), Ancient Greek δυσ- (dus-, “bad, ill, difficult”, prefix). More at dys-.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Root classification mention*dus-ine-pro
Inherited-form mentiontorenm
Derivation mentiontor-non
Derivation mention*tuz-gem-pro
Derivation mention*dus-ine-pro
Cognate mentionzur-goh
Cognate mention𐍄𐌿𐌶-got
Cognate mentionδυσ-grc

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*dus-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "tor"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English tor"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "non",
        "3": "tor-",
        "4": "",
        "5": "hard, difficult, wrong, bad",
        "pos": "prefix"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse tor- (“hard, difficult, wrong, bad”, prefix)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
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        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*tuz-",
        "4": "",
        "5": "hard, difficult, wrong, bad"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *tuz- (“hard, difficult, wrong, bad”)"
    },
    {
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        "3": "*dus-",
        "4": "",
        "5": "bad, ill, difficult"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *dus- (“bad, ill, difficult”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "goh",
        "2": "zur-",
        "3": "",
        "4": "mis-",
        "pos": "prefix"
      },
      "expansion": "Old High German zur- (“mis-”, prefix)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "got",
        "2": "𐍄𐌿𐌶-",
        "3": "",
        "4": "hard, difficult",
        "pos": "prefix"
      },
      "expansion": "Gothic 𐍄𐌿𐌶- (tuz-, “hard, difficult”, prefix)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "grc",
        "2": "δυσ-",
        "3": "",
        "4": "bad, ill, difficult",
        "pos": "prefix"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek δυσ- (dus-, “bad, ill, difficult”, prefix)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "tor",
      "tor#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "tore",
      "tore#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "toor",
      "toor#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "tor-",
      "tor-#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "*tuz-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/tuz-"
    ],
    [
      "*dus-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/dus-"
    ],
    [
      "zur-",
      "zur-#Old_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "𐍄𐌿𐌶-",
      "𐍄𐌿𐌶-#Gothic"
    ],
    [
      "δυσ-",
      "δυσ-#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "dys-",
      "dys-#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "adj",
      "glosses": [
        "Hard, difficult; wearisome, tedious.",
        "Strong, sturdy; great, massive.",
        "Full; rich."
      ],
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        "dialectal",
        "obsolete"
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}

Source etymology 3

Original entry ↗

noun

Alternative form of torus. · torus · The solid enclosed by a torus

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

See torus.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of torus.",
        "torus",
        "The solid enclosed by a torus"
      ],
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Source etymology 4

Original entry ↗

noun

The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Probably from the root of tear; compare Welsh word for a break or cut.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    [
      "tear",
      "tear#English"
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  ],
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    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring."
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        "uncountable"
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for tore →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-dG9yZQ