-io

an action, process, or result

Forms

-io
-ion- — The longer form used before Latin endings.
-ion — The form carried into many English nouns.

Origin

An old Latin noun ending, inherited from earlier Indo-European word formation.

Note

The ending can name both an activity and what that activity produces.

82 / 371

noun

contortion

kun-TOR-shun/kənˈtɔːrʃn/

A severely twisted bodily position or movement.

The performer's contortion bends her body into a tight curve.

A trained adult contortionist on a low mat bends into a deep controlled backbend with legs curled over the shoulders; show anatomically coherent joints and hands supporting weight.

Etymology

conLatinwith, together; sometimes thoroughly

+tortLatintwist or turn

+ionLatinan action, process, or result

Built on twisting, with a prefix that perhaps intensifies it, contortion first named the act of twisting or wrenching. It then came to name the resulting distorted state or shape.

In context

Enhanced Public Domain292:02

nervous contortion of the forehead

1920s Fiction: Arthur Conan Doyle - Tales of Terror (Audiobook)

More examples

His face tightens into a painful contortion.
She practices slow contortions to prepare for her circus act.
Getting through the narrow opening requires an awkward contortion.

Forms

contortion · contortions

contort verb — To twist sharply out of shape.

contortionist noun — A performer who twists into extreme positions.

Similar words

twist: A broader term that need not imply an extreme position.
grimace: Describes a facial contortion expressing pain, disgust, or discomfort.