neglegentia

Neglegentia is a Latin term referring to negligence, defined as a failure to exercise due care. In Roman law negligentia described fault arising from carelessness rather than intentional wrongdoing (dolus). In modern usage, the term is often treated as a historical or scholarly reference to the broader concept of failing to take reasonable precautions, which can give rise to civil or criminal liability depending on the jurisdiction.

To establish negligence, most legal systems require four elements: a duty of care owed to the plaintiff, a breach of that duty, causal connection between the breach and the injury, and damages. The standard of care is frequently framed as what a reasonably prudent person would do in similar circumstances; professional contexts apply the standard of care of a reasonably competent professional in the field. Negligence per se is a related doctrine in which violating a statute or regulation constitutes evidence of negligence if the harm is of the type the statute intended to prevent.

Negligence is a central concept in tort law and distinctions exist from intentional torts and from gross negligence, where the disregard for care is extreme. In civil law jurisdictions, negligentia is often described through culpa rather than as a separate modern term, with varying tests for fault. Scholarly discussions may use neglegentia in historical or translation contexts, while contemporary legal writing typically employs negligence, fault, or culpability to describe the concept.