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tort

Etymology and origin of the French word tort

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
late 10th century, Passion de Clermont
Inherited from
Latin tortum via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin (torqueō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /tɔʁ/[1]

Forms

tort m (plural torts)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French tort, inherited from Vulgar Latin tortum (“wrong”), the neuter of Latin tortus (“twisted”) used as a noun, the past participle of torqueō (“to twist”),[2][3][4][5] properly “what is twisted”, hence “an act contrary to what is right”, opposed to dīrēctum (“what is straight, right”).[3][4] Since Italian torto, Spanish tuerto and Old Occitan tort have the same sense, the development goes back to Latin times;[4][3] Medieval Latin has “tortum facere” (864).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Passion of Clermont (late 10th century) has El mort a tort, ren non forsfist “he dies wrongfully, he did no wrong”, the phrase à tort “unjustly”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The Chanson de Roland (1100) opposes tort and dreit: Paien unt tort e chrestien unt dreit.[2][6] The word thus came to mean being in the wrong, in phrases such as avoir tort, avoir tort de (Montaigne, 1580) and donner tort à (1783), after donner le tort (1601).[2][3] À tort et à travers “wildly, indiscriminately” (1316) follows en tort e en travers (about 1165), and à tort ou à raison (1770) replaced a tort ne a droit.[2]

From the 12th century it also meant harm done unjustly, as in faire tort (about 1190) and faire du tort à (1610).[2][3] The proverb les absents ont toujours tort (1718) softens the medieval le mort a tort (1283).[3]

Timeline

  • Late 10th century – A tort in the Passion of Clermont.[2]
  • 1100 – Paien unt tort in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • c. 1165 – En tort e en travers.[2]
  • c. 1190 – Faire tort.[2]
  • 1316 – A tort et a travers.[2]
  • 1580 – Avoir grand tort de in Montaigne.[2]
  • 1718 – Les absents ont toujours tort.[3]
  • 1783 – Donner tort à.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Avoir tort: to be wrong, donner tort à: to blame, prove wrong.[7][8]
  2. A fault, wrong done; responsibility for something blameworthy: avoir tous les torts.[9][1]
  3. Harm, injury: faire du tort à qqn, redresseur de torts.[9][6]
  4. À tort: wrongly, unjustly, à tort et à travers: indiscriminately, à tort ou à raison: rightly or wrongly.[9][2]
  5. En tort: in the wrong (as in a road accident).[1]
  • tordre
  • torture
  • tourte
  • droit
  • English tort

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 98b
  6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Tort.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/tort. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·