The crime of obtaining money, property, or services from someone through coercion, typically involving threats of harm to the person, their reputation, or their property. It includes both threats of physical violence and threats to reveal embarrassing information.
From Latin 'extortus,' past participle of 'extorquere' meaning 'to wrest away' or 'twist out.' The legal concept developed in Roman law to address officials who abused their power to extract payments, later expanding to cover private threats and coercion.
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