- tort
- tort: see torment
- tort (n.)
- mid-13c., "injury, wrong," from Old French tort "wrong, injustice, crime" (11c.), from Medieval Latin tortum "injustice," noun use of neuter of tortus "wrung, twisted," past participle of Latin torquere "turn, turn awry, twist, wring, distort" (see torque (n.)). Legal sense of "breach of a duty, whereby someone acquires a right of action for damages" is first recorded 1580s.