justice

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈdʒʌs.tɪs/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English justice, justise,^[2] late inherited from Old English iustise (“administration of the law”),^[3][2] borrowed from Old French justise (“justice, legal rights, jurisdiction”), justice,^[4][5][6] a learned borrowing from Latin iūstitia (“righteousness, equity”),^[5][4] from iūstus (“upright, just”).^[4][6][7] It is related to just and justify.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The exercise of authority to uphold right by reward or punishment: 1137–54, in the Peterborough Chronicle,^[8] 1140 according to Barnhart,^[5] or the mid-12th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline also dates the quality of being fair and just to the mid-12th century,^[4] while the OED's first quotation for it is from about 1340.^[8] The administration of law and its processes is from 1303,^[8] and a judge or judicial officer from about 1200.^[4][7] Justice of the peace is attested from the early 14th century.^[4] “Right order, equity, giving everyone their due” is from the late 14th century.^[4] From about 1400 to 1700 the word sometimes had a vindictive sense, “infliction of punishment, legal vengeance”.^[4] In theology, observance of the divine law, righteousness, is from 1534,^[8] and conformity of an action to moral right or to fact from 1588.^[8] To do justice to, “to treat fittingly”, is from the 1670s.^[4] The verb justice, “to administer justice to; to bring to trial”, from about 1320, is obsolete.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 1137–54 – the upholding of right.^[8]
• c. 1200 – a judicial officer.^[4]
• 1303 – the administration of law.^[8]
• early 14th century – justice of the peace.^[4]
• c. 1340 – fairness.^[8]
• 1534 – righteousness (theology).^[8]
• 1670s – to do justice to.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Fair and right treatment; fairness.
2. The principle of moral rightness; equity.
3. The system of laws and their administration: the criminal justice system.
4. A judge, especially of a supreme court; a justice of the peace.

Word family

• justiceless
• justicer
• justiceship
• chief justice
• justice of the peace
• obstruction of justice
• poetic justice

Related words

• just
• justiciable
• justiciar
• unjust
• justify
• justification
• injustice
• justiciary
• judge
• jury

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press