delict
noun/dɪˈlɪkt/ · /ˈdiːlɪkt/
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”).
1
A wrongful act, analogous to a tort in common law.
Civil law; Scots law; civil law; Scots law
2
Figuratively Synonym of misdeed, any wrongful act.
- Since Mr Ernest Bevin made his plea a generation ago for more coal to give weight to his foreign policy our economic decline has been such as to sap the foundations of our diplomacy. Conversely, I believe that, during the same period, much of our foreign policy has been such as to contribute to that decline. It is to the interaction of these delicts, spanning my time in the foreign service, that this valedictory despatch is devoted.1979 March 31, Nicholas Henderson, "Britain's Decline: Its Causes and Consequences"
3
Law The branch of law dealing in delicts.
- Derived terms
- delictual, quasi-delict
- Related terms
- in flagrant delict, corpus delicti