[6] The Tibetan term comes from the root gtor-ba which means to "cast away, break up, or scatter".
[8] They are mostly made of barley flour and butter, but traditionally other ingredients such as egg, milk, sugar, honey, and even meat may be included depending upon the purpose of the torma.
[11] Food tormas (Wylie: skang gtor) are used in feast practices and are partially consumed by practitioners during the feast, with leftovers (Wylie: dme gtor) offered to lower beings after being blessed.
Torma for obstructing spirits are called gektor (Wylie: gegs gtor).
[10] Samding Dorje Phagmo A torma may be used in Tibetan medicine to extract an illness from a patient as a cure.