tort French · revision 15818

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 10th century, Passion de Clermont|origins=la torqueō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tɔʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tort''' ''m'' (plural torts)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|tort]], [[inh|la-vul|tortum|t=wrong]], the neuter of [[la|tortus|t=twisted]] used as a noun, the past participle of [[m|la|torqueō|t=to twist]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|13/2, 98b) properly “what is twisted”, hence “an act contrary to what is right”, opposed to [[m|la|dīrēctum|t=what is straight, right]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Since [[it|torto]], [[es|tuerto]] and [[pro|tort]] have the same sense, the development goes back to Latin times;^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) Medieval Latin has “tortum facere” (864).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==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”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (1100) opposes ''tort'' and ''dreit'': ''Paien unt tort e chrestien unt dreit''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) 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).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''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''.^(TLFi)

+

+ From the 12th century it also meant harm done unjustly, as in ''faire tort'' (about 1190) and ''faire du tort à'' (1610).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The proverb ''les absents ont toujours tort'' (1718) softens the medieval ''le mort a tort'' (1283).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 10th century – ''A tort'' in the ''Passion'' of Clermont.^(TLFi)

+ * 1100 – ''Paien unt tort'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1165 – ''En tort e en travers''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1190 – ''Faire tort''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1316 – ''A tort et a travers''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1580 – ''Avoir grand tort de'' in Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1718 – ''Les absents ont toujours tort''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1783 – ''Donner tort à''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''Avoir tort'': to be [[m|en|wrong]], ''donner tort à'': to blame, prove wrong.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # A [[m|en|fault]], wrong done; responsibility for something blameworthy: ''avoir tous les torts''.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Harm, injury: ''faire du tort à qqn'', ''redresseur de torts''.^(Larousse)^(Littré 1873)

+ # ''À tort'': wrongly, unjustly, ''à tort et à travers'': indiscriminately, ''à tort ou à raison'': rightly or wrongly.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+ # ''En tort'': in the wrong (as in a road accident).^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tordre]]

+ * [[torture]]

+ * [[tourte]]

+ * [[droit]]

+ * [[en|tort]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}