tort [L, tortus, twisted] , (in law) a civil wrong, other than a breach of contract. Torts include negligence, false imprisonment, assault, and battery. The elements of a tort are a legal duty owed by the defendant to the plaintiff, a breach of duty, and damage from the breach of duty. A tort may be constitutional, in which one person deprives another of a right or immunity guaranteed by the Constitution; personal, in which a person or a person’s reputation or feelings are injured; or intentional, in which the wrong is a deliberate act that is unlawful. Many other kinds of torts exist. −tortious, adj.
