Forms: 3–6 torche, (4 torge, thorche, 5 tourche, 6 tortche, towrge, pl. torchesse), 6– torch. [ME. a. OF. torche = Pr. torcha, according to Diez:—late pop.L. *torca, from stem *tork- of torquēre to twist; cf. also It. torcia (Veronese, and Venetian torzo), Sp. antorcha, earlier entorcha, Pg. tocha ‘torch.’ The primary sense is taken to have been ‘a twist,’ ‘something twisted,’ torches having been made of twisted tow dipped in pitch, or the like. Cf. also TORTIS. (The derivation of the Eng. from F. torche is certain, but the etymology of the latter, and of the Romanic forms as a whole, is still in dispute: see Diez s.v. Torciare, Gröber, Archiv f. Lat. Lexicog., VI. 128, Körting, Lat. Rom. Wbch., 1901. s.v. Tortica, 9616.)]
1. A light to be carried in the hand, consisting of a stick of resinous wood, or of twisted hemp or similar material soaked with tallow, resin, or other inflammable substance. Also applied to a lamp carried on a pole or similar appliance.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 467/187. With-oute liȝht of torche.
c. 1330. Assump. Virg., 598 (B.M. MS.). Loke þat ȝe have candele Torches boþe faire & fele.
13[?]. Sir Beues (A.), 1659. Þar inne he seȝ torges [v.r. torches] i-liȝt.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XVII. 203. To a torche or a tapre þe trinitee is lykned; As wex and a weke were twyned togideres, And þanne a fyre flaumende forth oute of bothe.
1483. Cath. Angl., 390/1. A Torche, torticius, torchia.
1546–7. in Swayne, Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896), 274. viij lb. of waxe to make twoo torches agaynst Alholoutyde.
1555. in Shropsh. Par. Documents (1903), 56. Peyde towrd byying of ii towrges.
1606. Shaks., Tr. & Cr., V. i. 92. Follow his Torch, he goes to Chalcas Tent.
1721. Bailey, A Torch … a Staff of Deal on which Wax-Candles are stuck, to be lighted on several Occasions.
1821. Scott, Kenilw., xxx. Onward came the cavalcade, illuminated by two hundred thick waxen torches.
1906. Daily Chron., 14 July, 5. The ordinary tarred-rope torch.
b. fig. or allusively. Something figured as a source of illumination, enlightenment, or guidance, or of heat or ‘conflagration.’
1621. Burton, Anat. Mel., V. ii. VI. i. (1651), 545. I light my Candle from their Torches.
1664. Jasz-Berenyi (title), A new Torch to the Latine Tongue.
1775. Sheridan, Rivals, Epil. The torch of love.
1878. Bosw. Smith, Carthage, 19. The torch of Greek learning and civilisation was to be extinguished.
1937. Record (N. J.), 22 Nov., 21/1. Having carried a ‘torch’ for her over a long period of time, he immediately ‘got that old feeling.’
2. transf. a. A spike composed of spikelets; also fig. said of a red or flame-colored flower.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, I. lxiii. 9. Of this kinde, there is founde an other, the Spikes, eares, or torches wherof, are very dubble,… in steede of the little knappes or heades, it bringeth forth a number of other smal torches, wherof eche one is lyke to the spike or torch of great Plantayne.
1862. B. Taylor, Poet’s Jrnl., II. Lost May. And burns in meadow-grass the phlox His torch of purple fire.
b. (Usually in pl. Torches.) The Great Mullein, Verbascum Thapsus (or other species): from its tall spike of yellow flowers (or, according to some, from the use of its thick woolly leaves and stalks as material for torches).
1552. Cooper, Elyot’s Dict., Blattaria, an herbe called Moleyne, or a kinde of Moleine called Torche.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, I. lxxxi. 120. Mulleyn is called … in English also … Hig[h]taper, Torches, and Longworte. [Cf. 118 The whole top with his pleasant yellow floures sheweth like to a waxe Candell or taper cunningly wrought.]
1657. W. Coles, Adam in Eden, cxii. Called of the Latines Candela Regia and Candelaria, because the elder age used the stalks dipped in Suet to burn…. In English also some call it Torches.
1861. Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., IV. 135. Its tall tapering spike of light yellow flowers … suggested … the old names of High Taper … and Torches.
† c. Applied to a species of cactus or cactaceous plant: prob. = TORCH-THISTLE. Obs.
1597. Gerarde, Herbal, 1015. The torch or thornie Euphorbium … called of the Indians Vragua … a torch, taper, or waxe candle, whereupon … in Latine of those that understoode the Indian toong, Cereus, or a torch.
1666. J. Davies, Hist. Caribby Isles, 62. The Plant … some of the European Inhabitants of these Islands call the Torch: it is a kind of great Thistle.
3. attrib. and Comb., as torch-blaze, -brand, -carrier, -flame, -glare, -stick, -waving, -wick; torch-like adj. and adv., -lit adj.; also, torch-blade, the Great Mullein (= 2 b); torch-course = torch-race; torch-dance, a dance in which some of the performers carry lighted torches; torch-fish, a deep-sea fish, Linophryne lucifer, having a luminous bulb upon the first dorsal spine, above the eye; torch-fishing, fishing by torch-light at night (also called torching: see TORCH v.1 3); torch-flower, any bright red or yellow flower resembling or suggesting a torch, e.g., the torch-lily; † torch-herb, the great mullein; torch-holder, one who or that which holds a torch; spec. a device for supporting a torch; also, a gas-bracket or the like imitating this; torch-lily, the liliaceous genus Tritoma, having spikes of bright scarlet flowers; also called ‘red-hot poker’; torch-man, a man who carries a torch, a torch-bearer; also fig.; torch-pine, Pinus rigida of N. America; = pitch-pine; torch-plant = TORCH-THISTLE; torch-race, in Gr. Antiq., a race held at certain festivals, in which the runners carried lighted torches, and (in some cases) passed them on to other runners posted at certain points: = LAMPADEDROMY; torch-staff (pl. -staves), a staff upon which a torch is carried; † torch-tree, rendering L. tæda, a resinous species of pine, the wood of which was used for torches; also Ixora parviflora, an East Indian shrub with showy flowers. See also TORCH-BEARER, etc.
1861. Mrs. Lankester, Wild Flowers, 102. Great Mullein,… *‘Torch-blade,’ or ‘King’s Taper.’
1818. Milman, Samor, 317. A *torchblaze, meet to search Earth’s utmost.
1825. Scott, Talism., iii. I am Theodorick of Engaddi—I am the *torch-brand of the desert—I am the flail of the infidels.
1864. Trevelyan, Compet. Wallah (1866), 220. The other half are … listening to a disquisition of the *torch-carrier.
1839. T. Mitchell, Aristoph., Frogs, 124, note. From … Pausanias we learn that three *torch-courses were held in the Ceramicus.
1907. Discovery, Oct., 122. The *Torch-fish…. On the upper jaw there is a larger ovate bulb supported on a tentacle…. It possesses powerful phosphorescent properties, the light being under the control of the fish. ‘l’his is the ‘torch.’
1840. Browning, Sordello, I. 80. Like a *torch-flame turned By the wind.
1849. [W. M. W. Call], Reverberations, I. 59. The *Torch-flower burning by the river.
1905. in Daily Chron., 28 Dec., 3/2. It is now ablaze with the red torch flowers of an aloe.
1908. L. Binyon, in Academy, 14 March, 553/1. He stands on high in the *torch-glare.
1598. Florio, Lunaria, the herbe called *torch herbe or woollblade.
1874. trans. Hugo’s Ninety-Three, III. I. xix. They stuck an iron *torch-holder into the wall.
1579. J. Jones, Preserv. Bodie & Soule, I. xl. 87. [Comets] Swordlike, hornelike, *torchlike.
1897. Daily News, 25 June, 2/6. Meanwhile our [Jubilee] bonfires [on Skiddaw] … burned torch-like downwards with a grand head of flame.
1884. Miller, Plant-n., *Torch-lily, the genus Tritoma.
1842. Sir A. de Vere, Song Faith, 186. The *torch-lit gloom of Auchen’s aisle.
a. 1618. Sylvester, Mayden’s Blush, 364. The sacred *Torch-man (to that end imploy’d).
1856. J. M. Kaye, Sir J. Malcolm, I. vii. 162. The bearers or torchmen who ran by his side.
a. 1845. Hood, Incendiary Song, xviii. Burn all *torch-parading elves!
1890. Cent. Dict., s.v. Pine, Pitch-pine, (a) in America, Pinus rigida.… Also called *torch-pine.
1696. Phil. Trans., XIX. 296. The Dildoe-tree is the same with the Cereus or *Torch-Plant.
1812. C. Dunster, trans. Aristoph., Frogs, I. ii. 288, note. In a part of the suburbs so called [Ceramicus] was situated the academy, where the *torch-race was held.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), III. 12. The promise of an equestrian torch-race in the evening.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., IV. ii. 46. The Horsemen sit like fixed Candlesticks, With *Torch-staues in their hands.
1601. Holland, Pliny, XVI. x. I. 462. A sixt sort … of these trees … is properly called Teda (i. the *Torch-tree): the same yeeldeth more plentie of moisture and liquor than the rest.
1862. Balfour, Timber Trees Asia (ed. 2), 135. Ixora parviflora:… Torch Tree … A small tree … more used for torches than for any other purpose, as it burns very readily and clearly.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), *Torch-weed. a kind of Herb.
1444. Compota Domest. (Abbotsf., 1836), 18. In vij petris di. … huiusmodi torchweke emptis.
