tort

plural torts

1. lawA wrongful act, whether intentional or negligent, regarded as non-criminal and unrelated to a contract, which causes an injury and can be remedied in civil court, usually through the awarding of damages.First known use late 16th c.

   3 more examples

   […] Wrong or Iniury, is in French aptly called Tort, becauſe Iniury & wrong is wreſted or crooked, being contrary to that which is right and ſtreight. […] And Britton ſaith that Tort a la ley eſt contrarye [a wrong to the law is contrary], and as aptly for the cauſe aforeſaid is iniury in English called wrong.

   [1628, Edw[ard] Coke, “Of Rents”, in The First Part of the Institutes of the Lawes of England. […], London: […] [Adam Islip] for the Societe of Stationers, →OCLC, book 2, chapter 12, section 234, folio 158, verso

   Personal actions are ſuch vvhereby a man claims a debt, or perſonal duty, or damages in lieu thereof; and likevviſe vvhereby a man claims a ſatisfaction in damages for ſome injury done to his perſon or property. The former are ſaid to be founded on contracts, the latter upon torts or vvrongs: […] of the latter all actions for treſpaſſes, nuſances, aſſaults, defamatory vvords, and the like.

   1768, William Blackstone, “Of Wrongs, and Their Remedies, Respecting the Rights of Persons”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book III (Of Private Wrongs), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 117

   A tort is a legal wrong committed upon the person or property independent of contract. It may be either (1) a direct invasion of some legal right of the individual; (2) the infraction of some public duty by which special damage accrues to the individual; (3) the violation of some private obligation by which like damage accrues to the individual.

   1891, Henry Campbell Black, “TORT”, in A Dictionary of Law […], St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing Co., →OCLC, page 1178, column 1

   Synonyms: delict, tortfeasance, crime, delict, delinquency, error, malfeasance, misdeed

2. obsoleteAn injury or wrong.First known use late 14th – 18th c.

   For no vvild beaſts ſhould do them any torte / There or abroad, ne vvould his maieſtye / Vſe them but vvell, vvith gracious clemencye, / As vvhome he knevv to him both faſt and true; […]

   1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Prosopopoia. Or Mother Hubberds Tale.”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC, signature P3, verso

   1 more example

   Then gan triumphant Trompets ſovvnd on hye, / That ſent to heuen the ecchoed report / Of their nevv ioy, and happie victory / Gainſt him, that had them long oppreſt with tort, / And faſt impriſoned in ſieged fort.

   1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 4, page 172

1. obsoleteTwisted.

   And the firſt that came and gaue them moſt comfort was Henry Erle of Lãcaſter with yͤ wrie neck, called Tort coll [torticollis], who was brother to Thomas Erle of Lãcaſter yͭ was behedded, as ye haue heard before, who was a right vertuous & good knight as after ye ſhal here.

   1569, Richard Grafton, “Edwarde the Seconde”, in A Chronicle at Large and Meere History of the Affayres of Englande […], volume II, London: […] Henry Denham, […], for Richarde Tottle and Humffrey Toye, →OCLC, page 210

comparative more tort · superlative most tort

1. UKdialectalSynonym of tart (“sharp- or sour-tasting; (figuratively) keen, severe, sharp”)

   Synonyms: tart

comparative torter · superlative tortest

1. UKdialectalobsoleteSynonym of taut (“stretched tight; under tension”).

   Yet holds he them with tortest rein, / That they may seize and entertain / The glance that to their glance opposes, / Like fiery honey sucked from roses.

   1847, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Initial, Dæmonic, and Celestial Love”, in Poems, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, →OCLC, part I (The Initial Love), page 158

   Synonyms: taut

2. UKdialectalobsoletenauticalOf a boat: watertight.

plural torts

1. UKabbreviationclippingdialectalobsoleteslangClipping of tortoise.

plural torts

1. UKabbreviationclippingdialectalobsoleteslangClipping of tortoiseshell (“a domestic cat, guinea pig, rabbit, or other animal whose fur has black, brown, and yellow markings; a tortie”).