a rich cake, especially one containing little or no flour, usually made with eggs and ground nuts or bread crumbs.
Origin: 1955–60; < German < Italian torta < Late Latin (Vulgate) tōrta (panis) round loaf (of bread), probably feminine of Latin tortus twisted (see tort), with VL lengthening of o (compare French tourte)
"sweet cake, tart," 1748, from Ger. Torte; earlier sense of "round cake, round bread" (1555) is from M.Fr. torte; both from L.L. torta "flat cake," also "round loaf of bread" (cf. It. torte, Sp. torta), probably related to tart (n.1); not considered to be from the source of tort.