tornillo

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish tornillo (“screw”).

Noun

tornillo (plural tornillos)

1. A small tree of species Prosopis pubescens, native to Mexico and parts of the United States, that has spirally twisted pods.

   Synonym: screwbean

2. (geology) A low-frequency seismic event associated with volcanoes.

Spanish

tornillos

Etymology

From torno +‎ -illo, from Latin tornus, from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /toɾˈniʝo/ [t̪oɾˈni.ʝo]

• IPA^(key): /toɾˈniʝo/ [t̪oɾˈni.ʝo] (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• IPA^(key): /toɾˈniʎo/ [t̪oɾˈni.ʎo] (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• IPA^(key): /toɾˈniʃo/ [t̪oɾˈni.ʃo] (Buenos Aires and environs)
• IPA^(key): /toɾˈniʒo/ [t̪oɾˈni.ʒo] (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• IPA^(key): /toɾˈnio/ [t̪oɾˈni.o] (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

 

• Rhymes: -iʝo

• Rhymes: -iʝo (Equatorial Guinea, most of Latin America and Spain)
• Rhymes: -iʎo (rustic northern Spain, northern and central Andes Mountains (except central Ecuador), Bolivia, Paraguay, northeastern Argentina, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -iʃo (Buenos Aires and environs)
• Rhymes: -iʒo (central Ecuador, Santiago del Estero and environs, elsewhere in Pampas and southern Argentina, Uruguay)
• Rhymes: -io (northern Mexico, Yucatán, Central America (except Panama))

• Syllabification: tor‧ni‧llo

Noun

tornillo m (plural tornillos)

1. screw (fastener)
2. bolt (fastener)

   Synonym: perno

   Coordinate term: tuerca

Derived terms

• atornillar
• faltarle un tornillo
• perder un tornillo
• tener flojos los tornillos
• tornillo de Arquímedes
• tornillo de banco
• tornillo sin fin

Descendants

• → Tagalog: tornilyo

Further reading

• “tornillo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025