just

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English just, also juste,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman just and juste,^[4] and directly borrowed from Latin iūstus (“upright, righteous, equitable; lawful”),^[4][5][6] from iūs (“right, law”).^[5][6][2] The French adjective is recorded from the 12th century.^[5][4] Barnhart considers the further origin of the Latin noun unknown.^[6] The adverb comes from the adjective,^[5][4][3] like the adverbial uses of French juste, Italian giusto, Dutch juist and German just.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of clothes or armour, of the right fit: before 1375, according to Barnhart, who dates "fair, righteous" to about 1380, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius.^[6] The OED's first record is the Wycliffite Bible (about 1384), for "conforming to a standard, right in amount".^[4]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline sums up the late 14th-century range of the adjective: morally upright, fair in one's dealings, fitting, and justifiable.^[5] The sense "exact, precise" followed about 1400, "well-founded" before 1413 and "lawful" in the early 15th century.^[4][5] The religious sense "righteous" is now, in the words of the 1989 edition of the OED that Etymonline quotes, chiefly a biblical archaism.^[5] Johnson (1755) gave "upright; incorrupt; equitable" first.^[7] In music, "acoustically pure" is recorded from 1664 in the OED but only from 1850 in Etymonline.^[4][5] The adverb first meant "exactly, precisely" (1417 in the OED, about 1400 in Etymonline),^[4][5] then "closely fitting" and "immediately".^[5][4] Like other words for exactness, it weakened to "nearly" and, by the 1660s, to "merely, barely".^[5][8] Just now, a short time ago, is from the 1680s, and the intensive "quite, simply" from about 1855.^[5][8] The noun the just, just people, is as old as the adjective.^[4][5]

Timeline

• before 1375 – of clothes or armour, of the right fit.^[6]
• c. 1380 – fair, righteous.^[6][5]
• c. 1384 – conforming to a standard, right; noun, a just person.^[4]
• c. 1400 – exact, precise.^[4][5]
• before 1413 – well-founded, justifiable.^[4]
• 1417 – adverb, exactly, accurately.^[4] Etymonline dates the adverb to c. 1400.^[5]
• c. 1450 – equitable, fair; deserved.^[4]
• 1660s – adverb, merely, barely.^[5]
• 1664 – in music, acoustically pure.^[4]
• 1680s – just now, a short time ago.^[5]
• c. 1855 – adverb, used as an intensive, quite.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Fair and impartial in one's dealings: a just ruler.^[9][10][4]
2. Morally right; righteous.^[9][10][4]
3. Deserved or merited: a just reward.^[9][10][4]
4. Lawful; legally valid.^[9][10][4]
5. Based on good reasons; well-founded: a just complaint.^[9][10][4]
6. (music) Of intervals or tuning, acoustically pure.^[4][5]

Adverb

1. Exactly, precisely: That's just what I wanted.^[9][3][4]
2. A moment ago: They have just arrived.^[9][10]
3. By a narrow margin; barely: We just caught the bus.^[9][11]
4. Only, merely: just a few minutes.^[9][11]
5. Simply, really, as an intensive: The view was just wonderful.^[9][5]

Noun

1. the just: just people as a class.^[4][10]

Word family

• justly
• justness
• juster
• just-in-time
• just intonation

Related words

• justice
• jury
• injury
• jurist
• adjust
• justify

Usage notes

As an adverb it is usually unstressed, and Merriam-Webster records reduced pronunciations such as /jist/ and /jest/ in rapid speech.^[3]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
10. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)