Which legal term refers to physical harm or offensive contact that is not consented to?

The legal term that refers to physical harm or offensive contact that is not consented to is battery. Battery involves actual physical actions that result in harm or offensive touching of another person without their permission. This distinguishes it from assault, which is primarily concerned with the threat or attempt to cause harm and does not require physical contact.

Battery requires an intentional act that leads to the contact, which can include a wide range of actions from minor to severe. The key aspect of battery is the lack of consent; this can also mean that even if the contact does not cause physical injury, if it is deemed offensive, it can still be classified as battery.

In contrast, negligence relates to a failure to act with reasonable care, which leads to unintentional harm, and threats involve creating fear of harm without actual physical contact. Therefore, battery is the most accurate term for the described scenario of unwanted physical harm or offensive contact.