ex delicto

Syllables: ex de·lic·to/ɛks dəˈlɪktoʊ/

ex delicto adjective: of a legal obligation: arising from a delict or tort, or some other wrongful act.

Adjective

ex delicto (not comparable)

(postpositional) Of a legal obligation: arising from a delict or tort, or some other wrongful act.
- This act [An Act anent the Aliment of Poor Prisoners 1696 (chapter 32; Parliament of Scotland)] was clearly intended to regulate the case of civil debts; but the question occurred whether by civil debts was meant debts ex contractu, or debts also ex delicto; and the Court were at first of opinion...1815, Robert Bell, A Dictionary of the Law of Scotland: Intended for the Use of the Public at Large, as Well as of the Profession, 2nd edition, volume I, Edinburgh: Printed by Alex. Smellie, for John...
- Personal actions are in form ex contractu or ex delicto, or, in other words, are for breach of contract, or for wrongs unconnected with contract. […] [T]hose for wrongs are case, trover, replevin, and trespass vi et armis.1837, Joseph Chitty with Thomas Chitty, A Treatise on the Parties to Actions, and on Pleading: With Second and Third Volumes, Containing Precedents of Pleadings, and Copious Directory Notes, 7th...

ex delicto (not comparable)

(postpositional) From a delict or tort, or some other wrongful act.
- The diviſion of obligations, into thoſe ariſing from a contract, or quaſi ex contractu; from a delict, or quaſi ex delicto, takes place in the law of England [marginal note]. […] Obligations civil, in a large ſenſe, may be divided into ſuch as ariſe from a contract, or quaſi contract; or from a...1751, Andrew MacDowall Bankton, An Institute of the Laws of Scotland in Civil Rights: With Observations Upon the Agreement or Diversity Between Them and the Laws of England. In Four Books. After the...
- Actio personalis moritur cum persona. – A personal action dies with the person. [i.e. An action merely personal, arising ex delicto, for a tort, but not an action arising ex contractu, from contract.[…]] […] [Ex delicto — From tort.]1824, Thomas Branch with William Waller Hening, Principia Legis et Æquitatis: Being an Alphabetical Collection of Maxims, Principles or Rules, Definitions, and Memorable Sayings, in Law and Equity...

There are many schools of thought as to the character of this obligation in the context of both liability ex delicto and of liability sine delicto.2002, M[algosia] A. Fitzmaurice, “International Protection of the Environment”, in Recueil des cours = Collected Courses of The Hague...
What the Romans said is that, whereas some obligations arose ‘ex delicto’ (that is, from a delict or wrong), others arose ‘quasi ex delicto’ (and likewise for contract).2009, Eric Descheemaeker, The Division of Wrongs: A Historical Comparative Study, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 43:

From Latin ex dēlīctō (literally “from transgression”).

What does ex delicto mean?: Ex delicto means of a legal obligation: arising from a delict or tort, or some other wrongful act.
How do you use ex delicto in a sentence?: There are many schools of thought as to the character of this obligation in the context of both liability ex delicto and of liability sine delicto.
What part of speech is ex delicto?: Ex delicto can be an adjective or an adverb.
How do you pronounce ex delicto?: Ex delicto is pronounced /ɛks dəˈlɪktoʊ/.

Adapted from Wiktionary: ex delicto (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

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Cite this entry: “ex delicto.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ex_delicto. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.