tormentise

Middle English

Alternative forms

• tormentyse

Etymology

Compare English torment.

Noun

tormentise

1. torture; torment
   • late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Monk's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, line 3705-3708:

     But natheles this Seneca the wyse
     Chees in a bath to deye in this manere
     Rather than han another tormentyse;
     And thus hath Nero slayn his maister dere.

     But nonetheless this Seneca the wise
     Chose in a bath to die in this manner
     Rather than have another form of torment;
     And thus has Nero slain his dear master.

References

• “tormentise”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.