Etymologically
Log in

justification

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 21:07. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˌd͡ʒʌstɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/[1]

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

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.