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re·tort²

(rĭ-tôrt, rētôrt′)

A closed laboratory vessel with an outlet tube, used for distillation, sublimation, or decomposition by heat.

[German Retort, from Medieval Latin retorta, from feminine of Latin retortus, past participle of retorquēre, to bend back; see RETORT¹.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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