delict means A wrongful act, analogous to a tort in common law. It carries an Arena rating of 1605, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, delict ranks #904 of 13,330 for Most Elegant Words, #1,327 of 13,330 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #1,754 of 13,330 for Scariest Words, #2,001 of 13,330 for Most Malleable Words.
delict is pronounced /dɪˈlɪkt/.
Why “delict” is a great word
A wrongful act, analogous to a tort in common law, or the branch of law dealing with such acts. It emerges from Latin *dēlīctum* (“fault, offense”), neuter of *dēlīctus*, past participle of *delinquere* (“to fail, be lacking”), from *dē-* (“away”) + *linquere* (“to leave”), a lexical footprint of absence and dereliction first attested in English in the 1520s. Unlike “crime,” which is a public wrong prosecuted by the state, or the precise common-law term “tort,” delict is the civil law’s designation for a private wrong creating an obligation to make amends. It is the formal chill of a parchment summons, the precise crack in a marble step that causes a fall, and the quiet, procedural machinery that converts a personal failing into a quantified debt—the architecture of redress built upon a foundation of human lapse.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin dēlīctum (“fault”), neuter of dēlīctus, past participle of delinquo (“to fail; to be lacking”), from dē- + linquō (“to leave, quit, forsake, depart from”).
noun
- A wrongful act, analogous to a tort in common law.
- The branch of law dealing in delicts.
Words closest in meaning
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