Definition of the word distort

The word "distort" has a fascinating history! The term has its roots in Middle English, derived from the Old French word "desortier," which means "to break or rend." However, the term's etymology reaches further back to the Latin "des-tortere," which is a combination of "de-" (meaning "apart" or "away") and "tortus" (meaning "twisted" or "wound"). In the 15th century, the word "distort" emerged in English, initially meaning "to twist or bend something out of its natural shape." Over time, the term expanded to encompass figurative meanings, such as "to alter or falsify the truth" or "to misrepresent or misinterpret." Today, we use "distort" in a broad range of contexts, from physics to psychology to politics, to convey the idea of altering or twisting something from its original form.