retort

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈtɔɹt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈtɔːt/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)t
• Hyphenation: re‧tort

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin retortus, from retorquēre (“to be forced to twist back”).

Noun

retort (plural retorts)

1. A sharp or witty reply, or one which turns an argument against its originator; a comeback.

Translations

sharp or witty reply

• Armenian: հակաճառություն (hy) (hakačaṙutʿyun)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 反駁 (zh), 反驳 (zh) (fǎnbó)

• Danish: replik c
• Dutch: scherp antwoord
• Finnish: sivallus
• French: réplique (fr) f, riposte (fr) f, repartie (fr) f
• German: schlagfertige Antwort f, Erwiderung (de) f, Retourkutsche (de) f
• Hungarian: visszavágás (hu), riposzt
• Ido: repliko (io)
• Irish: aisfhreagra m

• Italian: replica (it)
• Japanese: 口答え (kuchigotae)
• Latvian: asa atbilde f
• Maori: kupu paremata, ngutu atamai
• Occitan: replica f, repartida f, rebecada f, retornament m
• Polish: riposta (pl) f
• Portuguese: réplica (pt) f
• Russian: парирование (ru) n (parirovanije)
• Spanish: réplica (es) f
• Swedish: replik (sv), genmäle (sv)

Verb

retort (third-person singular simple present retorts, present participle retorting, simple past and past participle retorted)

1. To say something sharp or witty in answer to a remark or accusation.
   • 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 1, in The Ayrsham Mystery‎^[1]:

     “It is a pity,” he retorted with aggravating meekness, “that they do not use a little common sense. The case resembles that of Columbus'  egg, and is every bit as simple. […]”

2. To make a remark which reverses an argument upon its originator; to return, as an argument, accusation, censure, or incivility.

   to retort the charge of vanity

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book 5”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Printed [by Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […] [a]nd by Robert Boulter […] [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: The Text Exactly Reproduced from the First Edition of 1667: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:

     And with retorted scorn his back he turned.

3. To bend or curve back.

   a retorted line

   • (Can we date this quote by Southey and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     With retorted head, pruned themselves as they floated.

4. To throw back; to reverberate; to reflect.
   • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene iii]:

     As when his virtues, shining upon others, / Heat them and they retort that heat again / To the first giver.

Synonyms

• (sharp reply): comeback, rejoinder, back answer

Translations

To say something sharp or witty in answer to a remark or accusation

• Armenian: բոցել (hy) (bocʿel)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 反駁 (zh), 反驳 (zh) (fǎnbó), 回嘴 (zh) (huízuǐ)

• Finnish: sivaltaa
• French: rétorquer (fr), lancer (fr)
• Galician: retrucar

• Japanese: 口答えする (kuchigotae suru)
• Latvian: asi atbildēt, atcirst
• Polish: ripostować
• Portuguese: retorquir (pt)
• Russian: парировать (ru) (parirovatʹ), отбрить (ru) pf (otbritʹ)
• Swedish: replikera (sv), genmäla (sv)

to retort; to throw back — see return

Etymology 2

From French retorte.

Retort for distillation

Noun

retort (plural retorts)

1. (chemistry) A flask with a rounded base and a long neck that is bent down and tapered, used to heat a liquid for distillation.
   • 1893, Conan Doyle, Arthur, The Naval Treaty, Norton, page 670:

     A large curved retort was boiling furiously in the bluish flame of a Bunsen burner, and the distilled drops were condensing into a two-litre measure.

2. A airtight vessel in which material is subjected to high temperatures in the chemical industry or as part of an industrial manufacturing process, especially during the smelting and forging of metal.
3. A pressure cooker
   • March 1920, Alice Ballantine Kirjassoff, “FORMOSA THE BEAUTIFUL”, in National Geographic Magazine‎^[2], page 268:

     The retort is above boiling water. Beneath is a furnace. To the right a man is removing the chips from which the camphor has been extracted.

Derived terms

• retort stand

Translations

flask used for distillation

• Armenian: թորանոթ (hy) (tʿoranotʿ), թորաման (hy) (tʿoraman)
• Catalan: retorta f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 曲頸甑 (zh), 曲颈甑 (zh) (qū jǐng zèng)

• Czech: křivule f
• Danish: retort (da) c, destillerkolbe c
• Dutch: retort (nl) f or n
• Finnish: retortti (fi)
• French: cornue (fr)
• German: Retorte (de) f
• Greek: αποστακτήρας (el) m (apostaktíras)
• Ido: retorto (io)

• Italian: storta (it)
• Japanese: レトルト (retoruto)
• Latvian: retorte f
• Maori: puoto kakīroa, puoto whkaturuturu
• Polish: retorta (pl) f
• Portuguese: balão (pt) m
• Romanian: retortă (ro)
• Russian: рето́рта (ru) (retórta)
• Serbo-Croatian: retorta (sh)
• Spanish: retorta f
• Swedish: retort (sv)
• Ukrainian: реторта (retorta)

an airtight vessel

• German: Autoklav (de) m

Verb

retort (third-person singular simple present retorts, present participle retorting, simple past and past participle retorted)

1. (transitive) To heat in a retort.

External links

• Retort in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
• Retort on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Rotter, rotter

---

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French retorte, from Latin retorta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rəˈtɔrt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: re‧tort
• Rhymes: -ɔrt

Noun

retort f or n (plural retorten)

1. (chemistry) retort (flask used for distillation)