torpor 
The aiimu torpor, as regarded the capacity for Intellec- 
tual effort, accompjtiiiril ni' 1 home. 
lluii'thorue, Scarlet Letter, Int., p. 89. 
torporific (tor-po-rif'ik), <i. [< L. tor}mr. numb- 
ness, + fun ' n . make (see -Jic).] Producing tor- 
por; torpifyinj;; si u|M>!'yint;. 
torquate (tor'kwiit), . [< L. t<-</nn tux, wear- 
ing a neck-chain, < torques, a neck-chain: see 
torque.] In soot., ringed about tlie neck; col- 
lared, as with a color, or by the peculiar tex- 
ture, etc., of hair or feathers about the neck. 
torctuated (lor'kwa-ted), a. [< ton/Hutu + -ed 2 .] 
1. Having or wearing a torque. 2. In zool., 
same as tnn/uiili: 
Torquatella (tor-kwa-td'a), n. [NL.., dim. of 
tortjitulitx, adorned with a neck-chain: see tor- 
i/nl<:] The typical <;<' mls of Torquatellidte, 
having a plicate and extensile membranous col- 
lar, and the mouth with a tongue-like valve or 
velum. T. ti/i>irti inhabits salt water. 
Torquatellidae (tor-kwa-tel'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < 
Torqmttella + -itlir.] A family of peritriehous 
ciliateinfusoriaus, typified by the genus Tor quci- 
tt Hit . These animalcules are free-swimming, llloricate, 
and more or less ovate; the anterior ciliary wreath is re- 
placed by a membranous extensile and contractile collar, 
which is perforated centrally by the oral aperture. 
torque (tork), . [Also tore; = It. torque = tore, 
< L. torques, torquis, a twisted metal neck-ring, 
a necklace, a collar, < torquere, twist: see tort.] 
1. A twisted ornament forming a necklace or 
Torque, with manner of wearing it, from sculptures on the sarcopha- 
gus of Vtgna Amendola, Capitoline Museum. 
collar for the neck, particularly one worn by 
uncivilized people, and of such a make as to 
retain its rigidity and circular form. Such a 
collar was considered a characteristic attribute 
of the ancient Gauls. Also torques. 
They [the Gauls] wore collars and torques of gold, neck- 
laces, and bracelets, and strings of Brightly-coloured 
beads, made of glass or of a material like the Egyptian 
porcelain. C. Elton, Origins of Eng. Hist, p. 115. 
The Anglo-Saxons habitually wore upon their arms 
twisted bracelets or torques, or, in their stead, a number 
of simple bracelets. Encyc. Brit., VI. 465. 
2. In mech., the moment of a system-force ap- 
plied so as to twist anything, as a shaft in ma- 
chinery. 
The torque, or turning moment, is, in a series dynamo, 
both when used as a generator and when used as a motor, 
very nearly proportional to the current. 
S. P. Thompson, Dynamo-Electric Machinery, p. 45. 
torqued (t6rkt), a. [< OF. torquer, twist, < L. 
torquere, twist (see torque), + -erf 2 .] 1. Twist- 
ed; convoluted. 
On this West shore we found a dead flsh floating, which 
had in his nose a home streight and torquet, of length 
two yards lacking two ynches. Haldttyt's Voyages, III. 35. 
2. Twisted like a rope: said of metal-work. 
A pair of ear-rings of base silver, the 
large torqued circles of which were 
closed by a sort of hook and eye. 
Archseolosna, XXXVII. 102. 
3. In her., same as targant. 
torquened (t&r'kend), a. [Cf. 
torqued, turken.] In her., same 
as tar</iint. 
torque's (tdr'kwez), n. [L.: see 
torque.] 1. Same as torque, 1. 
2. In zool., any collar or ring around the neck, 
produced by the color, texture, etc., of the pel- 
age, plumage, or integument. 
torquett, " An obsolete form of torqued. 
torquist, [L-: see torque,] A torque. 
You have noe lesse surpris'd then oblig'd mee by your 
account of the Torquis, . . . the most ancient and most 
nkin to it of all that I have seen being a chaine of the 
same niH :i!l of about six hundred yeare old, taken out of 
Edward the Confessors Monument at Westminster. 
Xiiiiiui'l Pepys (Ellis's Lit Letters, p. 211). 
torreador, n. See toreador. 
torrefaction (tor-e-fak'shou), . [< F. torre- 
f action, (. L. torrefacere, dry by heat: see tor- 
re fU-] The act or operation of torrefying ; the 
state of being torrefied. 
6393 
Here was not scorching and l.listciin^, l.ut a vehement 
and full tftrrefaction. lip. Hall, Sermons, xxxvill. 
torrefy (tor'e-fij, r. /. ; pret. anil pp. torrefied, 
ppr. turn/Hint/. [Also torrifij ; = F. torn'fu r 
= It. "torri'fnn; < L. turnfacere, dry by heat, < 
torrere, parch, roast, + facere, make.] To dry 
or parch with heat ; roast. 
Things become, by a sooty or fuliginous matter pro- 
ceeding from the sulphur of bodies, torrilled. 
Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., rL 12. 
Bread . . . toasted hard or tiarrefied. 
Quoin, Med. Diet., p. 854. 
Simply tirrrifled and bruised, they [seeds of Thcobroma 
Cacao] constitute the cocoa of the shops. 
Ure, Diet., I. 666. 
Specifically (a) In metal., to roast or scorch, as metallic 
ores. (b) In phar., to dry or parch, as drugs, on a me- 
tallic plate till they become friable or are reduced to any 
state desired. 
torrent (tor' gut), a. and n. [< F. torrent = Pr. 
torrent = Sp. Pg. It. torrente, a torrent; < L. 
torreti(t-)s, burning, scorching, of a stream, 
boiling, roaring, rushing, and hence, as a noun, 
a rushing stream (not, as some explain it, lit. a 
stream of water that 'dries up' in the heat of 
summer), ppr. of torrere, dry by heat, parch, 
roast (of. terra for "tersa, 'dry land'), = Gr. 
ripoeaOai, become dry, = Goth, thairsan, be dry ; 
cf. thaursus, dry, thaurstei, etc., thirst, = Skt. 
/ in mli, thirst: see tiiir*t.\ I. a. Bushing in 
a stream. [Rare.] 
Fierce Phlegethon, 
Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage. 
Milton, P. L., U. 681. 
II. n. 1. A rushing stream, as of water or 
lava ; a stream flowing rapidly and with vio- 
lence, as down the side of a hill or over a preci- 
pice. 
And so Arete we come to Torrent Cedron, which in somer 
tyme is drye. Sir R. Quytforde, Pylgrymage, p. 81. 
The torrent roar'd, and we did buffet It 
With lusty sinews. Shale., J. C., 1. 2. 107. 
The ghastly torrent mingles its far roar 
With the breeze. Shelley, Alastor. 
2. Figuratively, aviolentoroyerwhelmingflow; 
a flood: as, a torrent of abusive words. 
I know at this time a celebrated toast, whom I allow to 
be one of the most agreeable of her sex, that In the pres- 
ence of her admirers will give a torrent of kisses to her 
cat Addison, Tatler, No. 121. 
Erasmus, that great injured name, . . . 
Stemm'd the wild torrent of a barbarous age. 
Pope, Essay on Criticism, 1. 696. 
torrent-bow (tor'ent-bo), . A bow or arch of 
rainbow-like or prismatic colors formed by the 
refraction and reflection of rays of light from 
the spray of a torrent ; an iris. 
From those four jets four currents In one swell 
Across the mountain stream'd below 
In misty folds that, floating as they fell, 
Lit up a torrent-few. Tennyson, Palace of Art. 
torrent-duck (tor'ent-duk), n. A duck-like 
merganser of the genus Merganetta : so called 
torrid 
The poetasters [of the Russian literary world] poured 
forth thi'ir fci-liiiKS with tiarei,<> 
I). M. WiMncr, Russia, p. 3SHi. 
He could woo, he was a torrential wooer. 
tf. Meredith, The Egoist, xlvii. 
His torrential wealth of words. The American, VIII. 23f>. 
torrentiality (to-ren-shi-al'i-ti), . [< torren- 
tial + -Hi/.] The c-liaracterofbeingtoiTenti.il 
[Rare.] 
torrentlally (to-rcn'rihal-i), </(. In a torren- 
tial manner; copiously; volubly. 
torrentine (lor'cn-tin). . [= OF. torrmli a : 
as titrrent + -ine 1 '.] Same as torrential. lm/>. 
Diet. 
torrett, A variant of toret. 
Torreya(tor'i-ft), n. [NL.(Arnott, 1838), named 
after Dr. John" Torrey. 1796-1873, professor of 
botany at Columbia College, New York.] A 
genus of conifers, of the tribe Taxete, distin- 
guished from the related genus Taxus by the 
complete or partial attachment of the seed to 
its surrounding capsule or berry, and by an- 
ther-cells being connate in a semicircle, it ln- 
Torrent-duck (Mcrgatutta armata), adult male. 
from the torrents of the streams which they 
inhabit in the Andes from Colombia to Chili, 
torrential (to-ren'shal), a. [= F. torrentiel = 
Sp. torrential; as torrent + --aJ.] 1. Pertain- 
ing to or resembling a torrent ; of the nature of 
a torrent: as, torrential rains. 
The greater magnitude and torrential character of the 
rivers of that [glacial] period were no doubt due to the 
melting during summer of great masses of snow and ice. 
J. Croll, Climate and Cosmology, p. 116. 
2. Produced by the agency of rapid streams, 
mountain torrents, and the like. 
The asar of Sweden are merely the denuded and partially 
re-arranged portions of old torrential gravel and sand, and 
morainic debris. J. Oeikie, Great Ice Age, xxvii. 
3. Figuratively, fluent and copious; voluble; 
overwhelming. 
Torrtya laxifolia. 
1, branch with male Bowers ; a, branch with fruit ; a, a male ament. 
eludes 4 species, 2 natives of China (see Itaiia) and Japan, 
the others American T. taxi/alia of Florida and T. Cali- 
fornica of California. They are evergreen trees, with flat, 
linear, two- ranked leaves resembling those of the yew, but 
longer, and with a larger ovoid drupaceous fruit, some- 
times H inches long. The Klorida species, often called 
Torreu-tree or mmn, is locally known as stinking cedar 
(which see. under at ink). The western species is the Cali- 
fornia nutmeg. 
Torricellian (tor-i-sel'i-an or tor-i-chel'i-an), 
a. [< Torricelli (see def.) + -an.] Pertain- 
ing to Evangelista Torricelli, an 
Italian physicist and mathemati- 
cian (1608-47), who, in 1643, discov- 
ered the principle on which the ba- 
rometer is constructed, by means of 
an experiment called from him the 
Torricellian experiment. This experi- 
ment consisted In filling with mercury a 
glass tube closed at one end and then Invert- 
Ing It ; the open end was then brought un- 
der the surface of mercury In a vessel, when 
the column of mercury in the tube was ob- 
served to descend till it stood at a height 
equal to about 30 inches above the level of 
the mercury in the vessel, leaving a vacuum 
at the top, Detween the upper extremity of 
the column and that of the tube. This ex- 
periment led to the discovery that the col- 
umn of mercury in the tube is supported by 
the pressure of the atmosphere acting on the 
surfaceof the mercury in the vessel, and that 
this column is an exact counterbalance to 
the atmospheric pressure. See barotne ter. 
Torricellian tube, a glass tube 30 or more 
inches in length, open at one end and her- 
metically sealed at the other, such as is used 
In the barometer. Torricellian vacuum, 
a vacuum such as that produced by rilling a barometer- 
tube with mercury, as in the Torricellian experiment ; the 
vacuum above the mercurial column in the barometer. 
torrid (tor'id), a. [< F. torride = Pr. torrid = Sp. 
torrido = Pg. It. torrido, < L. torridus, dry with 
heat, parched, torrid, < torrere, dry by heat, 
parch: see torrent.] 1. Parched and dry with 
heatj especially of the sun: arid; sultry; hot; 
specifically, noting a zone of the earth's surface. 
My marrow melts, my fainting spirits fry. 
In th' torrid zone of thy meridian eye. 
Quarles, Emblems, v. 15. 
Through torrid tracts with fainting steps they go. 
Goldsmith, Des. VII., L 843. 
2. Burning; scorching; parching. 
The brandish'd sword of God before them blazed, 
Fierce as a comet ; which with torrid heat, 
And vapour as the Libyan air adust, 
Began to parch that temperate clime. 
Milton, P. L., xii. 634. 
Aopan ... 
Torricellian 
Experiment. 
