Where does “tort” come from?
Tort derives from Old French tort, from Latin tortus, the past participle of torquere meaning "to twist," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ḱḗr.
tort (English): An injury or wrong; A wrongful act, whether...
Definitions
- An injury or wrong; A wrongful act, whether...
Ancestry of “tort”, step by step
tort traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English taut
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | taut | Under tension, like a stretched bowstring, rope,... |
| 2 | Middle English | taught | — |
| 3 | Old English | tēon | to drag, draw, pull; to train, discipline; to... |
| 4 | Old English | tēohan | — |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | teuhan | to pull; to lead |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | teuhaną | to lead; to pull behind oneself, draw, drag |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | dewk- | to pull, to draw; to lead |
via Middle English tort
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | tort | tort wrong |
| 2 | Old French | tort | wrong; misdeed |
| 3 | Latin | tortum | nominative neuter singular of tortus; accusative... |
| 4 | Latin | tortus | twisted, crooked; spun, whirled; bent, distorted |
| 5 | Latin | -tus | Forms the past participle of verbs; Forms... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -tus | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -tus | Derives action nouns from verb roots |