Torsion (noun)
tor-shun
The action of twisting or the state of being twisted, especially of one end of an object relative to the other.
Late Middle English (as a medical term denoting colic or in the sense ‘twisting’ (especially of a loop of the intestine)): via Old French from late Latin torsio(n-), variant of tortio(n-) ‘twisting, torture’, from Latin torquere ‘to twist’.
Example sentences
“The Resistance of the springs to torsion allows the beams to take up a definite position.”
Wonky (adj) won-kee Not straight or balanced, off kilter. First recorded in 1915–20; perhaps variant of dialectal wanky, equivalent to wank(le) ( Middle English wankel, Old English wancol. (more…)
