Tort
Etymology
From Old French tort, "wrong, injustice," from Medieval Latin tortum, a noun use of Latin tortus, "twisted" — the past participle of torquere, "to twist." A wrong was literally something bent or crooked, out of true. Common law adopted it as the name for a private harm the law will remedy, distinct from a crime or a breach of contract.
noun · /TORT/
A civil wrong, other than breaking a contract, that causes harm and gives the injured person a right to sue for compensation.
What it names
The legal category behind personal-injury lawsuits — slipping in a store, being defamed, getting hurt by a faulty product.
Example
Her spilled-coffee burn became a textbook tort, argued over the reasonable temperature of takeaway drinks.
Related idea
A tort is a wrong the injured party sues over privately; a crime is a wrong the state prosecutes on behalf of society.