Tort
From LegalLanding
A tort is French for a wrong, a civil wrong, or wrongful act, whether intentional or accidental, from which injury occurs to another. Torts include all negligence cases as well as intentional wrongs which result in legally cognizable harm. Tort law is one of the major areas of law (along with contract, real property and criminal law), and results in more civil litigation than any other area. Some intentional torts may also be crimes such as assault, battery, wrongful death, fraud, conversion (a euphemism for theft), and trespass on property and form the grounds for a lawsuit for damages by the injured party. Defamation, including intentionally telling untruths about another that result in a legally cognizable injury, either by print or broadcast (libel) or orally (slander), is a tort and was once classified as a crime, too.