justification

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English justificacioun,^[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman justificacioun and justification,^[3][4] and also directly from Late Latin iūstificātiō,^[3][5][6] a noun of action formed on the past participle of iūstificō (“to act justly toward; to make just”), which is built on Latin iūstus (“just”).^[5][7][2] In Anglo-Norman the noun is recorded from the first half of the 12th century, meaning a law or precept, justice and justification.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act by which human beings are freed from the penalty of sin and made righteous by God: c. 1384, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible.^[3] Etymonline instead gives "administration of justice" as the first sense, in the late 14th century, and dates the theological sense to the 1520s.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Middle English also used justification for the administration of justice, including, in Scotland, capital punishment (a1419 to 1878), and for an ordinance or commandment (?a1475 to 1662); both are now obsolete.^[3][6] The everyday sense, showing that something is right or reasonable, appears around 1500, and a justifying statement or written defence from about 1568.^[3][5] In law (from 1527) it is showing in court that one had sufficient reason for an act.^[3] Johnson (1755) defined it as defence or vindication and, in theology, as deliverance from sin by pardon.^[8] In printing, from 1672, it is the adjusting of type so that lines are of exact length, a sense later carried over to computing.^[3][5]

Timeline

• c. 1384 – in theology, being made righteous by God.^[3]
• late 14th century – administration of justice.^[5][3]
• ?a1475 – an ordinance or commandment (obsolete by 1662).^[3]
• a1500 – showing something to be just or reasonable.^[3]
• 1527 – in law, showing sufficient reason for an act.^[3]
• ?1568 – a justifying statement or defence.^[3]
• 1672 – in printing, adjusting type to an exact line length.^[3][5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A good reason or acceptable grounds for something: There was no justification for the delay.
2. The act of justifying; vindication or defence.
3. (theology) The act by which God makes a sinner righteous; in Protestant doctrine, justification by faith.
4. (printing, computing) The adjusting of spacing so that lines of text line up with one or both margins.
5. (law) Showing in court a sufficient reason for an act that is complained of.

Word family

• rejustification
• self-justification

Related words

• justify
• just
• justice
• justifiable

References

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