Added 10 October 2026
tort
/tɔːt/ noun
Latin root: tortum Wiktionary
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about tort at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- (law) any wrongdoing for which an action for damages may be brought.
Origin
From Middle English tort (“(uncountable) wrong; (countable) an injury, a wrong”), from Old French tort (“misdeed, wrong”) (modern French tort (“an error, wrong; a fault”)), from Medieval Latin tortum (“injustice, wrong”), a noun use of a neuter singular participle form of Latin tortus (“crooked; twisted”), the perfect passive participle of torqueō (“to bend or twist awry, distort”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- (“to spin; to turn”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)