The Torpedo Is Named After a Numbing Fish
A torpedo is a self-propelled underwater weapon. It takes its name from the electric ray, whose shock leaves you numb.
A torpedo is a self-propelled underwater missile. The name is zoological: *Torpedo* is the genus of electric ray, from Latin *torpere*, to be stiff or numb, because its shock numbs whatever touches it. Early naval mines were called torpedoes for the same reason, and the moving version inherited the word.
- An underwater missile. *A torpedo strike.*
- To attack with torpedoes. *The ship was torpedoed.*
- To wreck a plan. *The proposal was torpedoed.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | torpedo | A homing torpedo. |
| Plural | torpedoes | Two torpedoes. |
| Verb | torpedo | Torpedo the talks. |
| Past | torpedoed | Torpedoed in 1942. |
| Related | torpid | A torpid animal. |
How it is used in a sentence
- The submarine fired two torpedoes.Naval.
- One objection torpedoed the whole plan.Figurative.
- Torpid means sluggish, from the same root.Numbness again.
The numbing family
- Torpedo — the ray, then the weapon
- Torpid — sluggish and inactive
- Torpor — a state of reduced activity
- Numb — the plain English equivalent
- Hibernation — extended torpor through winter
From Latin *torpedo*, numbness or the electric ray, from *torpere*, to be numb. Robert Fulton used the word for his naval mines around 1800.
Why is an electric ray called a torpedo?
Because its discharge numbs. The Latin *torpere* means to be stiff or numb, and the fish was named for the effect.
Torpedoes or torpedos?
Torpedoes. English adds -es to most nouns ending in o that came in through Latin or Spanish.