distortion

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin distortio, distortionis, from distortus.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /dɪsˈtɔːʃən/
Rhymes: -ɔː(r)ʃən

Noun

distortion (countable and uncountable, plural distortions)

An act of distorting.
A result of distorting.
A misrepresentation of the truth.
The story he told was a bit of a distortion.
Noise or other artifacts caused in the electronic reproduction of sound or music.
This recording sounds awful due to the distortion.
An effect used in music, most commonly on guitars in rock or metal.
(optics) an aberration that causes magnification to change over the field of view.

Synonyms

deformation
disfigurement

Related terms

distort

Translations

act of distorting

Bulgarian: изкривяване (bg) n (izkrivjavane), измятане (bg) n (izmjatane)
Catalan: distorsió f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 扭曲 (zh) (niǔqū)
Danish: fordrejelse, forvridning, forvrængning
Finnish: vääristäminen (fi), vääristely (fi)
French: distorsion (fr) f
German: Verzerrung f, Verformung (de) f, Verwindung f, Verdrehung (de) f

Greek: διαστρέβλωση (el) f (diastrévlosi), παραμόρφωση (el) f (paramórfosi)
Italian: distorsione (it) f
Portuguese: distorção (pt) f
Romanian: distorsiune (ro) f
Russian: искаже́ние (ru) n (iskažénije), искривле́ние (ru) n (iskrivlénije)
Spanish: distorsión (es)
Swedish: förvrängning (sv) c

result of distorting

Bulgarian: изкривяване (bg) n (izkrivjavane), деформация (bg) f (deformacija)
Catalan: distorsió f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 形变 (zh) (xíngbiàn)
Czech: zkreslení n
Finnish: vääristyminen, vääristymä
French: distorsion (fr) f

German: Verzerrung f, Verformung (de) f, Enstellung f
Greek: διαστρέβλωση (el) f (diastrévlosi), παραμόρφωση (el) f (paramórfosi)
Portuguese: distorção (pt) f
Russian: искаже́ние (ru) n (iskažénije), искривле́ние (ru) n (iskrivlénije), дисто́рсия (ru) f (distórsija) (optical)
Spanish: distorsión (es)
Swedish: förvrängning (sv) pl

misrepresentation of the truth

Bulgarian: изопачаване (bg) n (izopačavane)
Catalan: distorsió f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 歪曲 (zh) (wāiqū)
Finnish: vääristely (fi)
German: Verzerrung f, Verformung (de) f, Zerrbild n

Greek: διαστρέβλωση (el) f (diastrévlosi), παραποίηση (el) f (parapoíisi), διαστροφή (el) f (diastrofí)
Hungarian: eltorzítás (hu), meghamisítás
Portuguese: distorção (pt) f
Russian: искаже́ние (ru) n (iskažénije)
Swedish: förvrängning (sv) c

noise

Bulgarian: изкривяване (bg) n (izkrivjavane)
Finnish: vääristymä
German: Verzerrung f
Greek: παραμόρφωση (el) f (paramórfosi)

Maori: hohōtanga
Portuguese: distorção (pt) f
Russian: искаже́ние (ru) n (iskažénije), искривле́ние (ru) n (iskrivlénije), дисто́рсия (ru) f (distórsija)
Swedish: distortion (sv) c, förvränging c

effect used in music

Danish: distortion pl
Finnish: särö
French: distorsion (fr) f
German: Verzerrung f

Greek: παραμόρφωση (el) f (paramórfosi)
Portuguese: distorção (pt) f
Russian: дисто́ршн (ru) m (distóršn)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

French: ^{(please verify)} corruption (fr) f, ^{(please verify)} déformation (fr) f, ^{(please verify)} aberration (fr) f