injustice

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English injustice,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French injustice (“unfairness, injustice”),^[4][5][6] a learned borrowing of Latin iniūstitia (“unfairness, injustice”),^[6][4][2] from iniūstus (“unjust, wrongful”), formed from in- (“not”) and iūstus (“just”).^[2][4][7] The OED dates the French word to the 14th century, in Oresme,^[5] and in Anglo-Norman it is recorded from about 1360–79, meaning wrongdoing.^[8] An adjective injust, also from French, appeared in the late 15th century, but unjust remained the usual English word.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Unjust action, wrong: 1390, in Gower's Confessio Amantis;^[5][6] Barnhart dates the text before 1393, and Etymonline gives the late 14th century.^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its meaning since Gower: from the start it named both unfairness in general and, with an and in the plural, a single unjust act.^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as "iniquity; wrong", quoting Swift on cunning men who can be "guilty of a thousand injustices" without being found out.^[9] The phrase do someone an injustice means to judge a person unfairly.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1360–79 – Anglo-Norman injustice, wrongdoing.^[8]
• 1390 – unjust action, wrong, in Gower.^[5][6]
• late 15th century – the adjective injust.^[4]
• 1755 – Johnson: "iniquity; wrong".^[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Lack of justice or fairness; violation of other people's rights.
2. A particular unjust act; a wrong: The new law put right a long-standing injustice.
3. do someone an injustice: to judge someone unfairly.

Related words

• just
• justice
• unjust
• justify

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press