Late 16th century: from French, from Italian torrente, from Latin torrent- 'boiling, roaring', from torrere 'parch, scorch'.

• toast from Late Middle English:

  There is a connection between the toast you eat and the toast you make with a raised glass. Toast is based on Latin torrere ‘to parch, scorch, dry up’, the source also of torrid (early 17th century), and torrent (Late Middle English) a rushing or ‘boiling’ flow of water. ‘To parch’ was the earliest meaning of the English word, and before long it was used to describe browning bread in front of a fire. Drinking toasts goes back to the late 17th century, and originated in the practice whereby a drinker would name a lady and request that all the people present drink her health. The idea was that the lady's name flavoured the drink like the pieces of spiced toast that people sometimes added to wine in those days.