judgment

Forms

• judgement (UK)

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English jugement, borrowed from Old French jugement (“legal judgment; diagnosis; the Last Judgment”),^[2][3][4] from jugier (“to judge”) (see judge) and -ment.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Trial at law, and the capacity to make decisions: the mid-13th century in Etymonline;^[2] the OED's first sense, the trial of a case in court, is from 1297.^[5]

Semantic evolution

A sentence imposed by a court is from the late 13th century,^[2] about 1290 in the OED,^[5] and any authoritative decision or verdict from the early 14th century.^[2] An opinion is from about 1300.^[2] The final trial of humankind by God, the Last Judgment, is from the late 14th century, as is Judgment Day;^[2] the OED has the divine judgment from 1340.^[5] Discernment, the ability to judge well, is first recorded in the 1530s,^[2] and a misfortune seen as a sign of divine displeasure by the 1610s.^[2] To sit in judgment on others, to criticize them with an air of superiority, is from about 1440.^[5]

Timeline

• mid-13th century – trial; capacity for deciding.^[2]
• c. 1290 – a court's sentence.^[5]
• c. 1300 – an opinion.^[2]
• 1340 – the Last Judgment.^[5]
• 1530s – discernment.^[2]
• 1610s – a divine punishment.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The ability to make sensible decisions; discernment or good sense.
2. An opinion formed after consideration.
3. (law) The decision of a court, or a debt or obligation arising from it.
4. A misfortune regarded as a punishment from God.
5. Judgment: the Last Judgment.

Word family

• self-judgment
• judgmental
• day of judgment
• declaratory judgment
• private judgment
• summary judgment
• value judgment
• judgment call

Related words

• judge
• judgement
• judicial
• judicious
• prejudice

Usage notes

Both judgment and judgement are common,^[6] and judgement is more usual in British English, but British legal use keeps judgment.^[6][7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press