'tort' originates from Old French, specifically the word 'tort', ultimately from Latin 'tortus' (from the verb 'torquēre'), where 'tortus' meant 'twisted' or 'turned'.

'tort' changed from Old French word 'tort' (and Anglo-Norman 'tort') and was adopted into Middle English, eventually becoming the modern English legal term 'tort'.

Initially, it meant 'twisted' or 'wrong' (reflecting the sense of something turned away from right), but over time it evolved into its current legal meaning of 'a civil wrong giving rise to a remedy'.