extortion
Meaning
The crime of getting money or information from someone by using force or threats.
The act of charging someone an unfairly high price for something.
Structure
Usage
The gang was charged with extortion for threatening local businesses.
He was found guilty of extortion after blackmailing a public official.
The price they charged for the essential repairs felt like sheer extortion.
Etymology
The word extortion has a vivid literal origin in the physical act of twisting something out. It derives from the Latin extortion-, from extorquere, meaning 'to wrench out, obtain by force'. This verb is composed of ex- ('out') and torquere ('to twist'). The core imagery is of forcibly twisting or wringing something out of a person, which evolved from a physical sense to the abstract legal and financial concept of obtaining money, property, or favors through coercion, intimidation, or the abuse of authority. The suffix -ion solidifies the action or result into a noun, naming the crime itself.
Analysis
- ex: Latin origin, a prefix meaning "out of, from, thoroughly." - tort: Latin origin, from the root of torquere meaning "to twist, wring." - ion: Latin origin, a suffix forming nouns denoting action or condition.