Delicts

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An act that is considered a wrongful or illegal deed, particularly in civil law contexts
2. A personal injury or harm that creates a legal obligation for the offender to compensate the injured party
3. An offense or wrongdoing that violates a duty imposed by law, leading to liability for damages

Etymology: "Delicts" is the plural of "delict," a term from Scots and civil law for a wrong that gives rise to a claim for damages, as opposed to a crime that is prosecuted by the state. The noun was borrowed from Latin "delictum," meaning "fault," which is the neuter form of "delictus," the past participle of "delinquere," "to fail or be lacking." That verb combines "de-," here meaning "away" or "down," with "linquere," "to leave or forsake," so the underlying picture is of something left wanting or departed from. The link to modern wrongdoing is the Latin sense of "delinquere" as a failure to meet an obligation. Roman law applied "delictum" to wrongful acts that a private person could sue over, and the legal idea carried into later European systems. "Delict" retains that narrow technical meaning today, and it is mostly confined to Scottish and civil-law jurisdictions, where it sits alongside the separate category of contract.