tortious, a.
(ˈtɔːʃəs)
Also 4–6 torcious, 6 torteouse.
[a. Anglo-Fr. torcious (14th c.), f. stem of torcion, tortion: see prec. and -ious. In use associated with tort n., as if from tort + -eous: cf. righteous, wrongous, etc.]
† 1. Wrongful, injurious, hurtful; illegal. Obs.
| 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love ii. ii. (Skeat) l. 73 Than wer tort & forthe [? force] nought worthe an haw about, and pleasen no men, but thilke greuous and torcious been in might and in doinge. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV 217 b, A cruell man and a torcious vsurper. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. i. (1879) 36 The deuil..inticed him (oh, torteouse serpent!) to eat of the forbidden fruite. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. ii. 18 Ne ought he car'd whom he endamaged By tortious wrong, or whom bereav'd of right. 1742 Shenstone Schoolmistress xv, When.. tortious death was true Devotion's meed. |
2. Law. Pertaining to or of the nature of a tort.
(Early quots. show the gradual development of sense.)
| 1544 tr. Littleton's Tenures 90 The more..that he came to the dede by a lawfull meane, than by a torcyous meane. 1619 Dalton Country Just. xciii. (1630) 237 Where the arrest is tortious,..there the killing of him that maketh such an unlawful arrest, is..manslaughter onely. 1671 F. Phillips Reg. Necess. 259 The parties..endeavouring such breaches of Priviledge, should not take advantage de son tort, of their own wrongs or tortious doings. 1766 Blackstone Comm. II. ix. 150 Unless the owner..will declare his continuance to be tortious, or, in common language, wrongful. 1863 H. Cox Instit. ii. viii. 500 To restrain threatened irremediable injuries to property by acts of a tortious kind. 1907 Law Rep. in Cycl. Tour. Club Gaz. June 220 The animal..would have done no harm but for the tortious act of a third person. |
† 3. Wrong, incorrect, improper. Obs. rare.
| 1644 [H. Parker] Jus Pop. 66 A tortious, unnatural sense of the words. 1657 W. Morice Coena quasi κοινὴ i. ii. 106 It seemes a very Tortious and improper answer. |
¶ 4. Misused for tortuous.
| 1682 in R. Burthogge Argt. Infants Bapt. iv. (1684) 170 The most involved, tortious, intricate, that ever you heard of, except Origens Allegorical and Mystical Commentaries. |