19:56 Feb 25 

Thanks for all your comments. I don't entirely agree with those who suggested the word is NEVER used in English, even if it is true that it is rarely used. This, however, is more likely to be due to the fact that we have few mountains in the Uk and hence few torrents!! As I am translating a text about a country with a mountainous terrain, I believe that it is appropriate to use the term. Having posted this question in the English/English pair, where agreement was unanimous on using uppercase 'T', that is what I have decided to use. Thanks again to you all for your useful comments.

12:47 Feb 25 

Main Entry: torrent
Etymology: Middle French, from Latin torrent-, torrens, from torrent-, torrens, adjective, burning, seething, rushing, from present participle of torrēre to parch, burn — more at thirst
Date: 1582
1 : a tumultuous outpouring : rush
2 : a violent stream of a liquid (as water or lava)
3 : a channel of a mountain stream
from the Merriam-Webster dictionary

10:01 Feb 25 

The only difference between "fiume" and "torrente" is that the latter has ample and/or seasonal variations in capacity/depth, so it is a "stream" in the dry season and it can be a "river" (and a violent one at that) in the rain season. I would treat it just like a river and therefore capitalize the name initial.

04:17 Feb 25 

Agree with Tom: "River X"

03:45 Feb 25 

Letting aside that this word seems not to be commonly used, I would definitely keep the same rule as for rivers and lakes as it is a name, I would therefore go with CAPITAL T.

00:41 Feb 25 

also wonder, dep. context, if it could e.g. "upper stretches/reaches of" the named river.

23:25 Feb 24 

I'd have thought that if it forms part of the name it could be capitalised, like in English we have names of such watercourses with "Ghyll" and "Force" - http://www.english-lakes.com/aira_force.html http://www.thecumbriadirectory.com/Cumbria_Countryside/Water... - though I know these are local names, but still

22:22 Feb 24 

My instinct would be to use lower case - the torrent Celina. Putting the whole thing in caps feels too "translated" to me. I'd also be very interested in hearing what other folks do in such a case, as I've been faced with this situation more than once

21:07 Feb 24 

Thanks, Tom... I am aware that we don't tend to use the term in the Uk - although I did find a couple of examples of Torrent (capital 'T') in Wales, where this type of watercourse does at least exist. In many cases however, my torrents are too small to be described as rivers but too important to be referred to as 'streams', hence my question.

20:59 Feb 24 

although "Torrente x" is common in Italian, it is not used in English. Example "Torrente Mugnone" would be "the River Mugnone". Not "the Torrent Mugnone". So it's neither upper case nor lower case.